Our community members are treated to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. You can check out at any time. More info. A prostitute said she was 'a human - not just a sex worker' as she opened up about being 'judged' for her profession. The woman, known as 'Sam', bravely shared her experience of sex work as part of a first study of its kind by the University of Birmingham. She said she was treated completely differently by people, including healthcare providers, when they found out about her background and they assumed her entire identity was based around it.
Reflecting on her experience of going to the doctors, Sam said: "People's body language and the way they talk to you would be completely different when they found out what I do. It can be it makes it quite intimidating when you need like support on healthcare and you kind of have to mentally prepare yourself for that. I think that not even just in healthcare, but in general. The study found sex workers needed better access to support for mental ill health and physical health conditions and some needed support with drugs and alcohol use.
The data suggested sex workers were 35 times more likely to use drugs, significantly more likely to smoke, and up to 20 times more likely to experience mental ill health. We have heard loud and clear that there is a significant amount of stigma which is a barrier to getting help, and that sex workers are perceived through a single-issue lens of their work and not treated as a whole person. Our study also draws on data that shows the wider scale of the health needs of this group, including significant mental and physical health needs.
We usually only talk about them in the context of crime and disorder issues. Sex workers face significant marginalisation, stigma, discrimination and social exclusion and they often face multiple, overlapping health challenges such as violence and complex trauma, substance misuse, mental health issues and poverty.
Dr Eleanor Molloy, from the Institute of Applied Health Research at the University of Birmingham and a co-author of the study, said: "The report has highlighted that a more compassionate approach is needed to provide healthcare for a group of people that are being unfairly marginalised solely because of their line of work.
