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. 2019 Sep;16(3):317-328.
doi: 10.1007/s13178-018-0318-0. Epub 2018 Feb 9.

Women in Sex Work and the Risk Environment: Agency, Risk Perception, and Management in the Sex Work Environments of Two Mexico-U.S. Border Cities

Elí A Andrade  1 , René Leyva  2 , Mei-Po Kwan  3 , Carlos Magis  4 , Hugo Stainez-Orozco  5 , Kimberly Brouwer  1   6
Affiliations

Women in Sex Work and the Risk Environment: Agency, Risk Perception, and Management in the Sex Work Environments of Two Mexico-U.S. Border Cities

Elí A Andrade et al. Sex Res Social Policy. 2019 Sep.

Abstract

Sex work around the world takes place under conditions of structural violence and vulnerability. The México-U.S. border region is characterized by the presence of factors that increase the risk for health harms among female sex workers (FSW); located in this context, the risk environments of Tijuana and Ciudad Juárez have similar yet distinct characteristics that influence how risk is produced and experienced among FSWs. Exploring the ways in which FSWs enact agency in risk environments can illustrate how environmental characteristics shape perceived risks and the strategies that FSWs develop to manage them. This approach also identifies the limits that are placed by environmental characteristics over the capacity for harm reduction and prevention practices among FSWs. We analyzed the role of agency in the work environments of female sex workers and its relationship with risk perception and management in the cities of Tijuana and Cd. Juárez.

Keywords: Female sex workers; México-U.S. border; agency; risk; risk environment; structure.

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Conflict of interest statement

Disclosure statement No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

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