Non-use of condoms by prostitute women

Abstract

Ethnographic research among Glasgow female prostitutes working in street, sauna, flat, escort agency and "sugar daddy" sectors investigated prostitutes' accounts of the occasions in which condoms were not used for penetrative sexual encounters. Such occasions were a minority of commercial sex encounters and a majority of private sex encounters. Although prostitutes saw condom use as inappropriate in private sexual relationships this was not, as has been suggested, an aid to relationship interpretation as either private or commercial. Condoms in commercial sex were seen as routine tools of the trade, and hence emerged as emblems of prostitution. These emblematic qualities were found in turn to produce both challenges to condom use from customers and opportunities for prostitutes to manipulate customer relations by judicious suspension of condom application. Both norms of gendered role-play and prostitute status were highlighted as threatening condom use in some situations, while prostitute status could also be used as the basis of rational argument for condom use in others. Relational issues such as familiarity or a desire to communicate trust were at the forefront in explanations of condom non-use. Perceptions of physical power and the authority to permit or withhold sexual service or profit were determining influences crucial in condom use negotiation.

PIP: Information was obtained from more than 100 female prostitutes working in Glasgow on their condom use practices and experiences, and their rationales for deciding whether or not to use a condom during a penetrative sexual encounter. The women came from the broad spectrum of prostitution sectors and the data were collected through non-participant observation, informal inquiries, and interviews. The prostitutes did not perceive condom use as appropriate for private sexual relationships, but condoms were seen as normal, routine components of the commercial sex trade. As such, the prostitutes reported not using condoms on only a minority of commercial sex encounters and a majority of private encounters. Relational issues such as familiarity or a desire to communicate trust were central in the explanations of condom non-use. Perceptions of physical power and the authority to permit or withhold sexual service or profit were highly important determining influences in negotiating condom use.