"It Is Important for Everyone as Humans to Feel Important, Right?" Findings from a Community-Based Participatory Needs Assessment with Street-level Sex Workers

A community-based participatory research design informed the development and conduct of a needs assessment with street-level sex workers within a mid-sized city in Ontario, Canada. The research question was: What would help street-level sex workers to live with enhanced safety and dignity within the...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Social work in public health 2020-01, Vol.35 (1-2), p.33-46
Main Authors: Hall, Jodi, Donelle, Lorie, Laliberte Rudman, Debbie, Baumann, Julie, Weaver, Holly, Jones, Rosalie, Moulton-Sauve, Magdalen, Jenkins, Karen, Trudell, Annalise
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Access
Action research
Adult
Community Participation
Community research
Community services
Community-Based Participatory Research
community-based research
Drop-in centers
Female
Health administration
health promotion
Human dignity
Humans
Needs analysis
Needs Assessment
Ontario
Peer Group
Prostitution
Public health
Public spaces
Qualitative Research
Research design
Safety
Sex industry
Sex Workers
street-level sex work
Surveillance
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:A community-based participatory research design informed the development and conduct of a needs assessment with street-level sex workers within a mid-sized city in Ontario, Canada. The research question was: What would help street-level sex workers to live with enhanced safety and dignity within their community? Twenty-four women who accessed a peer-driven drop-in center (SafeSpace) participated in in-depth interviews. Observational data of items requested by women who accessed SafeSpace were also documented over a 6-month time period. The overarching theme of relationships was identified as vital to participants' ability to live and work with enhanced safety and dignity in their community. Subthemes included: Informal/formal surveillance: Relationships to public space(s); Nowhere to go for us: Relationships with/in community services; and You're given the time you need: Relationships in a peer-driven drop-in center for/with/by sex workers. Our findings demonstrate how central relationships are, particularly peer, to enhancing or diminishing sex workers' sense of dignity, self-worth, safety, and enhanced their access to services.
ISSN:1937-1918
1937-190X
DOI:10.1080/19371918.2020.1733163