'I miss being honest': sex workers' accounts of silence and disclosure with health care providers in Ireland

In this paper, female sex workers tell stories of their interactions with health care providers (HCP) in four cities in the Republic of Ireland. While Irish society has made great progress in listening to the sexual stories of women that were historically silenced (e.g. stories of abortion, sexual a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Culture, health & sexuality health & sexuality, 2022-05, Vol.24 (5), p.688-701
Main Authors: Ryan, Paul, McGarry, Kathryn
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Abortion
Action research
Clinical outcomes
Coercion
Disclosure
Female
health care
Health care industry
Health Personnel
Health planning
Health risks
Health services
Health status
Help seeking behavior
Home health care
Humans
Ireland
Marginality
Medical personnel
Migrants
NGOs
Nongovernmental organizations
Power
Pregnancy
Sex industry
Sex Work
Sex Workers
Sexual abuse
Sexual behavior
Sexual health
sexual story telling
Sexually transmitted diseases
STD
structural violence
Victimization
Women
Workers
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Summary:In this paper, female sex workers tell stories of their interactions with health care providers (HCP) in four cities in the Republic of Ireland. While Irish society has made great progress in listening to the sexual stories of women that were historically silenced (e.g. stories of abortion, sexual abuse), sex workers have not benefited from this new climate. Regularly silenced by parliamentarians and non-governmental organisations who speak upon their behalf, sex workers are consigned within a narrative of victimhood and coercion. This paper draws from a participant action research study conducted in 2019-20 and explores women's motivations in whether to disclose their sex work, and the strategies deployed to conceal it while seeking access to sexual health care. These strategies included traveling beyond their own communities for health care and STI home testing. The paper identifies women, particularly, migrants who felt their precarious position made it impossible for them to be truthful about their sex work to health care providers, exposing them to greater health risk. The paper understands this marginality within a context of structural violence where sex worker health is shaped by institutional power relations creating unequal health outcomes but is also challenged by stories of solidarity.
ISSN:1369-1058
1464-5351
DOI:10.1080/13691058.2021.1879271