Violencing and Trauma Through the Life Course: Revisiting the Ecosystems of Sex Workers Navigating HIV Prevention and Treatment

Understanding the lived experiences of women involved in sex work remains a vital area of inquiry. Sex work is an a historically elusive topic, currently embedded within society’s post-Pandemic appreciation of collective trauma and the ways in which it can evolve throughout one’s life course. The current study utilizes original, in-depth interviews with 22 sex workers in northeastern state, to excavate original, qualitative data that unearth the traumatic experiences of women who have engaged in professional sex work at some point in their life course. This original study is organized around the broad research question, “What are the lived experiences and experiences of trauma of female sex workers navigating community health services?” Findings contribute to an active, evolving conversation about trauma and the need to re-conceptualize how society frames this population in the realm of policy, practice, and developmental science. Female street-based sex workers are autonomous, resilient women who are may be navigating complex trauma histories and systems that have never protected them.