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Date: April 29, 2024 Mon
Time: 10:21 pm
Time: 10:21 pm
Results for prostitution (australia)
7 results foundAuthor: Quadara, Antonio Title: Sex Workers and Sexual Assault in Australia: Prevalence, Risk and Safety Summary: This paper provides a review of contemporary research on the sexual assault of sex workers in Australia. It focuses predominantly on the safety of sex workers in their work contexts. It aims to understand both what increases their vulnerability to sexual assault and what maximizes their ability to negotiate safe encounters, disclose sexual assault and access support services. Details: Melbourne: Australian Institute of Family Studies, 2008. 38p. Source: Issues No. 8 Year: 2008 Country: Australia URL: Shelf Number: 118304 Keywords: ProstitutesProstitution (Australia)Sexual Assault (Australia) |
Author: Hanley, Nancy Title: Speaking for Themselves: Voices of Young People Involved in Commercial Sexual Activity Summary: This report gives voice to the experiences and views of thirty young people involved in commercial sexual activity in Melbourne, providing a platform from which to talk about themselves, their experiences, their fears and their hopes for the future. The report outlines the needs of these young people who are caught in a web of sex work, drugs, homelessness and violence. Details: South Melbourne: Child Wise, 2004. 106p. Source: Year: 2004 Country: Australia URL: Shelf Number: 118306 Keywords: Prostitutes (Australia)Prostitution (Australia) |
Author: Martyn, Elizabeth Title: Youth for Sale: ECAT Australia's National Inquiry into the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children and Young People in Australia Summary: This research was conducted in order to gain insight into the nature and extent of young peoples' involvement in commercial sexual activity within Australia. Data collected for the report was aimed at determining if commercial sexual exploitation was increasing or decreasing, and to provide an understanding of the forces and circumstances which predispose young people to engage in prostitution. Details: South Melbourne: ECPAT Australia, 1998. 81p. Source: Year: 1998 Country: Australia URL: Shelf Number: 118308 Keywords: Child ProstitutionProstitutesProstitution (Australia)Sexual Exploitation (Children) |
Author: Queensland. Crime and Misconduct Commission Title: Regulating Prostitution: A Follow-Up Review of the Prostitution Act 1999 Summary: This 2011 review aimed to update the picture of the prostitution environment in Queensland, by finding out: (1) which recommendations from the CMC’s previous review have been implemented and what their effect has been what changes, if any, have occurred in the achievement of the Act’s underlying principles since the last review; and (2) what new and emerging issues are facing the industry in Queensland, and in comparable jurisdictions, which could affect the achievement of these principles. The review found that the position in Queensland has remained relatively stable, and that the legislative objectives are generally being achieved. It identified that licensed brothels: have minimal impact on community amenity show no evidence of corruption and organised crime (other than illegal prostitution) have access to exit and retraining programs for sex workers who may wish to leave the industry provide a safe workplace and a healthy environment in which to carry out prostitution. However, as a result of the review, the CMC called on the government to action two previous recommendations, which although supported are yet to be fully implemented. They relate to the establishment of an inter-agency Ministerial Advisory Committee to address issues facing Queensland’s prostitution industry, and a tightening of the legislation linked to advertising to prevent illegal operators masquerading as legal enterprises. Details: Brisbane: Crime and Misconduct Commission, 2011. 68p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 30, 2011 at: http://www.cmc.qld.gov.au/data/portal/00000005/content/15385001309241014238.pdf Year: 2011 Country: Australia URL: http://www.cmc.qld.gov.au/data/portal/00000005/content/15385001309241014238.pdf Shelf Number: 121952 Keywords: CorruptionOrganized CrimeProstitution (Australia)Sex Work |
Author: McMillan, Karen Title: Risky Business Vanuatu: Selling Sex in Port Vila Summary: In November and December 2010, face-to-face interviews were conducted with 18 women and 2 young men who had had sex for money in the previous 12 months. Interviews took place in and around Port Vila, and were conducted in Bislama and in English. The interviews were designed to investigate the circumstances and context of local sex work in Port Vila. The study sample is non-random and therefore the results cannot be considered to be generalisable to all sex workers in Vanuatu. However, the type of sex work captured was consistent with the characteristics of typical sex work in Port Vila reported in a 2007 survey. The data presented here provides a nuanced description of the motivations for sex work, the conditions under which it occurs and the conceptualisations of client and other sexual relationships in the lives of the sex workers who participated in this study. This information should be valuable to those who wish to provide HIV prevention, sexual health and other services to sex workers in Port Vila. Participants were aged between 16 and 36 years old. The average age was 24 years. While most participants began sex work long before they were 18 years of age, all the sex work undertaken by study participants had been freely chosen, the sex workers operated independently. Sex work was very informal, and few of the interviewees explicitly self-identified as sex workers, despite regularly exchanging sex for money. Sex work occurred in the context of unemployment and lack of access to cash. The data also indicated that while exchanging sex for money was considered to be somewhat shameful and was practised covertly, it was also believed to be a common practice. Two distinct modes of selling sex were evident. In the first, small groups of sex workers frequented bars, nakamals and nightclubs in the evenings to find clients and the sexual encounter took place immediately after it was negotiated. In the second, the sex worker worked alone and meetings for sex were prearranged. In this second pattern, clients were regulars or had been found during daytime excursions to town and arrangements would be made to meet for sex later. These modes of operation were not exclusive and some interviewees adopted both. Those who worked exclusively in the second mode were the most covert in their activities and not part of any wider networks of sex worker friends. Sex work began at a young age. Most interviewees were younger than 16 years old when they began sex work, and some were as young as 11 and 12 years. While friends and peers played a central role in the introduction to sex work, none of the participants had been coerced into sex work. The money earned from sex work was primarily spent while in town, on consumer goods and also on food, drinks and kava while out with friends. Few interviewees needed their earnings for daily food and shelter; but for most participants, the money earned through sex work afforded them some independence and autonomy along with access to cash. Sex workers expressed a preference for condom use but were inconsistent in their use of condoms with clients. Condoms need to be free and at hand to maximise uptake. While the quality of condoms was raised as an issue, most sex workers would not pay for condoms. Conditions of privacy and confidentiality were also very important to whether sex workers would pick up free condoms. Privacy and confidentiality are not merely a matter of shame but may have implications for the personal safety of sex workers. Information about the protection that condom use offered from HIV and other sexually transmissible infections (STIs) had an impact on sex workers’ attitudes to condoms. There were many misconceptions about condoms and a poor understanding of the role they play in preventing STIs and HIV transmission. Some sex workers and some clients did not know how to put a condom on a man. Clients were both foreign and local. Local clients were particularly averse to condom use. Clients’ wishes usually determined whether or not condoms were used. Overall, the sex workers in this study were not confident or competent enough negotiators to convince a reluctant client to use a condom. Those sex workers who had accurate information about the role and efficacy of condoms in preventing HIV and STI transmission did actively encourage clients to use condoms. Nakamals, bars and nightclubs are common sex work sites, and kava and alcohol drinking and sex work are intertwined. The combination of alcohol and kava and sex work may exacerbate risk as intoxication compromised intentions to use condoms. Drinking was also reported to be associated with lowered inhibitions and more adventurous sex than usual. Watching pornographic films with clients was also associated with sexual experimentation, and viewing usually occurred in the context of a drinking session. Along with the hazards of excessive alcohol and kava consumption and the elevated risk -taking associated with intoxication, forced sex was another danger associated with sex work. The heightened vulnerability to rape and sexual assault, however, appeared to be a consequence of being publicly exposed as a sex worker. Sex workers were variously encouraged to stop sex work by their church and also by health service providers. Sometimes families of sex workers beat them to convince them to stop. For those interviewees who had agreed to give up sex work, the undertaking resulted in a more covert approach to sex work. Details: Sydney: International HIV Research Group School of Public Health and Community Medicine The University of New South Wales, 2011. 30p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 27, 2012 at: http://www.pacs-rhrc.org/files/IHRG_Vanuatu_FINAL_2.pdf Year: 2011 Country: Australia URL: http://www.pacs-rhrc.org/files/IHRG_Vanuatu_FINAL_2.pdf Shelf Number: 126476 Keywords: HIV (Viruses)Human Immonodeficiency VirusProstitutionProstitution (Australia)Sex Workers |
Author: Hudson, Susan L. Title: Sex, Drugs and "Ugly Mugs": An ethnographic study of women who inject psychostimulants and engage in street-based sex work in Kings Cross, Sydney Summary: Australian and international literature provides strong evidence that intravenous use of psychostimulants increases the harms experienced by users, including heightening the risk of blood-borne virus (BBV) infection. The few Australian studies that include women who inject psychostimulants identify street-based sex work as the main method of income generation and highlight the harms that result from combining these practices. However, there has been little exploration into the way these practices are shaped by the environments in which they occur or the ways in which women manage these harms. This thesis aims to provide an in-depth exploration of the daily lives of women who inject psychostimulants and engage in street-based sex work in Kings Cross, Sydney. Over 18 months between 2005 and 2007, the author conducted ethnographic fieldwork with women who injected psychostimulants and engaged in street-based sex work in Kings Cross, Sydney. Data sources included observations recorded as fieldnotes and transcripts of in-depth interviews with 12 women. Thematic analysis of the data was employed with particular attention to the womens shared narratives. Key findings of the thesis were that 1) the Kings Cross environment plays a prominent role in shaping the lives of women, their psychostimulant injecting and street-based sex work practices; 2) psychostimulant injecting reinforces the opportunistic nature of street-based sex work as the primary method of income generating for women, restricting the development of occupational norms; 3) synergies exist between the drug and sex markets in Kings Cross, increasing the harms associated with both injecting and street-based sex work practices; 4) public health messages relating to sharing of injecting equipment and condom use fail to account for contextually driven decision-making and risk prioritising; 5) women develop lay epidemiological understandings as they attempt to reconcile the public health messages with the lived reality. The value of these findings is in the insights they provide into the everyday lives of these women in Kings Cross that have not been documented previously and their potential for informing bottom-up rather than top down approaches to future policy, practice and research. Details: Sydney: School of Public Health and Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of New South Wales, 2009. 244p. Source: Internet Resource: Dissertation: Accessed April 16, 2013 at: http://www.unsworks.unsw.edu.au/primo_library/libweb/action/dlDisplay.do?vid=UNSWORKS&docId=unsworks_8131&fromSitemap=1&afterPDS=true Year: 2009 Country: Australia URL: http://www.unsworks.unsw.edu.au/primo_library/libweb/action/dlDisplay.do?vid=UNSWORKS&docId=unsworks_8131&fromSitemap=1&afterPDS=true Shelf Number: 128386 Keywords: Drug Abuse and AddictionProstitutesProstitution (Australia)Sex WorkStreet-Based Prostitution |
Author: Roxburgh, Amanda Title: Mental Health, Drug Use and Risk among Female Street-Based Sex Workers in Greater Sydney Summary: Demographic characteristics - The mean age of the sample was 34 years and approximately one-quarter of the sample identified as being of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander (A&TSI) origin. The median years of school education completed was 9. Fourteen percent reported having no fixed address, or current homelessness and nearly half the sample reported being homeless within the past 12 months. Income apart from sex work in the past month came from several sources, and the vast majority reported sex work as their main source of income in the past month. More than half of the sample reported moving out of home before age 16. Sex work history and working conditions - The median age that participants reported starting sex work was 19, with almost one third starting before 18. Length of involvement in the sex industry ranged from four months to 39 years, and participants had worked in various other sectors of the sex industry. The majority of participants reported starting sex work because they needed the money for drugs, and this was also the main reason for remaining in the sex industry. Just under half the sample reported the money as being the most enjoyable aspect of their work, and the biggest concern for approximately one-third of the sample was the provision of a safe work environment (such as safe houses). Three-quarters of the women reported providing services on the street, two-thirds reported providing them in cars and just over half the sample reported using a safe house (in areas where safe houses were available). Two-thirds of the sample reported that they found sex work very stressful, and half stated that clients were the reason for this stress. The overwhelming majority of women reported ever having experienced violence while working, most commonly physical assault and rape. Drug use and drug treatment - Ninety four percent of the sample had ever injected any drug, and the median age of first injecting was 18, with approximately one-quarter of the sample reporting first injecting before the age of 16. There were relatively heavy patterns of heroin, cocaine and cannabis use reported among some of the women, while patterns of methamphetamine and alcohol use remained sporadic. The vast majority of the sample was heroin dependent according to the Severity of Dependence Scale (SDS) while approximately one-third was cocaine and cannabis dependent. Participants who were cocaine dependent were more likely to report sharing injecting equipment in the past month and less likely to use condoms when having penetrative sex with clients. Approximately two-thirds of the sample was in drug treatment at the time of interview. Sex work and drug use - Approximately half the sample reported injecting drugs prior to commencing sex work, and one-quarter reported commencing sex work within 3 years of injecting drug use initiation. Just over one-quarter of the sample reported starting sex work prior to injecting drug use, and approximately three-quarters reported that their drug use had increased since they started sex work. Injection-related risk behaviours - There were very few reports of borrowing used needles among the injecting drug users, while one-fifth reported lending a used needle to someone in the preceding month. Almost two-thirds of the sample reported sharing other injecting equipment in the past month. Approximately two-thirds of the sample reported testing positive for HCV. There were no reports of HIV positive results. Unwanted sexual activity - Three-quarters of the sample reported experiencing some form of child sexual abuse before the age of 16. Almost two-thirds of the sample reported that someone had sexual intercourse with them after the age of 16 when they had made it clear they did not consent. Mental health problems - Depression - Approximately half of the sample reported severe current depressive symptoms in accordance with the Beck Depression Inventory II. Depression was associated with homelessness in the past 12 months, A&TSI status, and cannabis dependence. Approximately half the sample reported ever having tried to kill themself, and approximately one-quarter had first attempted suicide by the age of 18. Borderline Personality Disorder - Approximately half the sample screened positively for a diagnosis of Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), which was associated with a range of adverse outcomes: earlier age of injecting drug use initiation, benzodiazepine dependence, cannabis dependence, sharing injecting equipment, current severe depressive symptoms, and adult sexual assault. Post-traumatic stress disorder - All but one of the participants reported having experienced at least one traumatic event in their lifetime, with a large proportion reporting multiple traumas. Rape, physical assault, child sexual abuse and witnessing someone being badly injured or killed were the most commonly reported traumas. Approximately half of the sample met Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV (TR)) criteria for a lifetime diagnosis of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and one-third reported current PTSD symptoms. Approximately three-quarters of those participants who developed PTSD said they had spoken to a health professional about the associated symptoms. Those reporting current PTSD were more likely to have experienced a greater number of traumas than those who did not report current symptoms. Access to mental health services - Approximately one-quarter of the sample had ever been admitted to a psychiatric hospital, and the most common reasons for admission were depression and anxiety. Just under half of the sample reported speaking with a health professional about a mental health problem other than their drug use in the past 6 months, most commonly for depression. Crime and police contact - Just under half of the sample reported engaging in criminal activity in the month prior to the interview, and just over half of the sample had been arrested in the preceding 12 months. Over half the sample reported ever having been in prison, and a small proportion had been in prison in the preceding 12 months. There were mixed reports regarding experiences with the police. Equal proportions of participants reported experiences of police harassment, poor treatment, and assault reports not being taken seriously, as well as police assistance, respectful treatment, and police assistance after assaults. Despite the large majority of women reporting experiences of violence at work, very low proportions had reported these incidents to police. Access to information and emotional support - Participants generally had good access to information on safe sex and drug use, bloodborne virus information and legal support. Access was particularly good to information on the sex industry in general. A substantial minority of the group reported having no emotional support. Details: Sydney: National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, 2005. 81p. Source: Internet Resource: NDARC Technical Report Number 237: Accessed May 1, 2013 at: http://ndarc.med.unsw.edu.au/resource/mental-health-drug-use-and-risk-among-female-street-based-sex-workers-greater-sydney Year: 2005 Country: Australia URL: http://ndarc.med.unsw.edu.au/resource/mental-health-drug-use-and-risk-among-female-street-based-sex-workers-greater-sydney Shelf Number: 106728 Keywords: Drug Abuse and AddictionMental Health ServicesProstitutesProstitution (Australia)Sex Workers |