ArticleSSM. Mental health2021
Sexual IPV and non-partner rape of female sex workers: Findings of a cross-sectional community-centric national study in South Africa.
Article in SSM. Mental health, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 19 citations in OpenAlex.
- Associations between Demographic Factors and Sexual Intimate Partner Violence Perpetration and Victimization: A Meta-analysis.Psychosocial intervention · 2025Pooled it
- The association between sexual violence and mental disorders among women victim-survivors in sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMJ global health · 2025Pooled it
- Violence against female sex workers in the state of Piauí, Brazil - a cross-sectional study.Scientific reports · 2025Observational
- Longitudinal patterns and predictors of opioid and stimulant use initiation and cessation among female sex workers living with HIV in South Africa.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2025Article
- Unveiling triple vulnerability among Mozambican female sex workers-Stigma, physical violence and sexual violence.PloS one · 2025Article
- Increasing age and duration of sex work among female sex workers in South Africa and implications for HIV incidence estimation: Bayesian evidence synthesis and simulation exercise.Infectious Disease Modelling · 2024Article
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- Protocol for a randomized controlled trial in Cambodian individuals with PTSD: Trauma-Informed Treatment Algorithms for Advancing Novel Outcomes (Project TITAN).Contemporary clinical trials · 2023Article
- Violence across the Life Course and Implications for Intervention Design: Findings from the Maisha Fiti Study with Female Sex Workers in Nairobi, Kenya.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- HIV incidence estimation among female sex workers in South Africa: a multiple methods analysis of cross-sectional survey data.The lancet. HIV · 2022Article
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Authors and funding
12 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundGlobally female sex workers (FSWs) are vulnerable to violence from intimate partners, police and clients due to stigma and criminalisation. In this paper we describe South African FSWs' exposure to violence and factors associated with having been raped in the past year.
methodsWe conducted a multi-stage, community-centric, cross-sectional survey of 3005 FSWs linked to sex worker programmes in 12 sites across all nine provinces that had a SW programme. Adult women who sold sex in the preceding six months were recruited for interviews via sex worker networks. Survey tools were developed in consultation with peer educators and FSWs.
resultsIn the past year, 70.4% of FSWs experienced physical violence and 57.9% were raped: by policemen (14.0%), clients (48.3%), other men (30.2%) and/or and intimate partner (31.9%). Sexual IPV was associated with food insecurity, entering sex work as a child, childhood trauma exposure, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), drinking alcohol to cope with sex work, working more days, partner controlling behaviour, having an ex-client partner, and having no current partner to protect from ex-partners. Rape by a client, other men or policemen was associated with food insecurity, childhood trauma, PTSD, depression, using alcohol and drugs, being homeless or staying in a sex work venue, selling sex on the streets, working more days and having entered sex work as a child and been in sex work for longer.
conclusionSouth African FSWs are very vulnerable to rape. Within the social climate of gender inequality, sex work stigma, criminalisation, and repeated victimisation, the key drivers are structural factors, childhood and other trauma exposure, mental ill-health, circumstances of sex work and, for SIPV, partner characteristics. Mostly these are amenable to intervention, with legislative change being foundational for ending abuse by policemen, enhancing safety of indoor venues and providing greater economic options for women.
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