Many women who engage in street sex work experience pregnancies and become mothers. Unfortunately, little research has examined how their pregnancies and parenting impact themselves as street sex workers and their street sex work. In this qualitative research study, 16 mothers who were currently involved in street sex work in a Midwestern city of the United States participated in semistructured interviews. These mothers discussed how being pregnant or parenting while regularly working the street caused them to feel ashamed of themselves and their work and anxious for their own and their children's safety. Pregnancies and parenting responsibilities reportedly altered their working productivity and practices. Given how frequently they had been separated from their children, they also talked about ways in which these separations resulted in them having more free time and need for drugs, which led to them increasing the amount they worked the street. It is evident from these interviews that street sex workers who are mothers have unique needs and experiences that must be considered by researchers, policy makers, and service providers.

Women who trade sex for money or drugs experience extensive victimization and criminalization and could benefit from legal services. In this study, 91 women currently trading sex disclosed experiences of community, intimate partner, societal, and police abuse, and a history of arrests and incarcerations. The majority of respondents indicated a need for services to help with abuse, violence, and/or legal problems, yet they reported a low perceived need and even lower use of legal services. The women revealed a higher tendency of disclosing their legal and abuse history to spiritual, mental health, and addiction service providers, than to legal service providers. The most frequently reported barrier to their legal service utilization was mistrust of the police and legal system, in part due to prior negative experiences and their own criminal status. Other barriers included fearing and protecting their perpetrators, wanting privacy, and using substances. The implications of the criminalization of sex work are discussed with regard to its impact on female sex traders' vulnerability to abuse and their use of legal services.

No abstract