Birmingham prostitute ‘judged’ says ‘I’m a man – not just a sex worker’

A prostitute said she was “a human being – not just a sex worker” while saying she was “judged” for her profession. The woman, known as ‘Sam’, has bravely shared her experience of sex work as part of a first-of-its-kind study by the University of Birmingham.

She said she was treated completely differently by people, including healthcare providers, when they learned about her past and assumed her entire identity was based on it. The study found that the health needs of sex workers were largely unmet, with most facing stigma and feelings of being reduced to ‘one size fits all’.

Reflecting on her experience of going to the doctors, Sam said: “People’s body language and the way they talk to you would be completely different when they found out what I was doing.

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“I feel very judged. It can get quite intimidating when you need health support and you have to mentally prepare for it. I think not just in health, but in general. When you work in the industry, people assume that your whole identity is based on work, and it’s like, I’m a human, not just a sex worker.”

The research, carried out through a partnership between the University of Birmingham and Birmingham City Council’s Public Health Division, found that adults working in various forms of sex work had difficulty accessing healthcare and that specialist provision was focused on the sexual health of sex workers rather than wider health. needs.

Sam’s experience was said to match many of the men and women the researchers worked with. The study found that sex workers needed better access to support for mental health and physical health conditions, and some needed support for drug and alcohol use.

Data suggests that sex workers are 35 times more likely to use drugs, significantly more likely to smoke and up to 20 times more likely to suffer from mental illness.

Caroline Bradbury-Jones, professor of gender-based violence and health at the School of Nursing and Midwifery at the University of Birmingham and lead author of the study said: “This is the first study of its kind to give sex workers a voice about themselves. needs when it comes to access to healthcare. We heard loud and clear that there is a significant amount of stigma that is a barrier to getting help, and that sex workers are viewed through a single-issue lens of their work and not treated as a whole person.

“We have also seen examples of good practice, including training and service provision that are geared towards the needs of a diverse group of people working in the sex industry. Our study also builds on data showing the wider scale of health needs of this group, including significant mental and physical health needs.”

Dr Justin Varney, Director of Public Health, Birmingham City Council, said: “Sex workers are often a forgotten part of our Birmingham community. We usually talk about them only in the context of issues related to crime and disorder. Sex workers face significant marginalization. , stigma, discrimination and social exclusion and often face multiple, overlapping health challenges such as violence and complex trauma, substance abuse, mental health problems and poverty.

“Sex workers rarely receive compassion or understanding for their life circumstances and the choices they have to make to survive and, despite being one of the NHS’s national health inclusion communities, relatively little is understood about their needs health or how we can help them live better. healthier lives.

“This study, bringing together evidence and lived experience, is an important step in tackling this ignorance and structural discrimination and helping us to better serve and respond to the needs of Birmingham’s most vulnerable and socially excluded.

Dr Eleanor Molloy, from the Institute of Applied Health Research at the University of Birmingham and co-author of the study, said: “The report highlighted the need for a more compassionate approach to providing healthcare to a group of people who are unfairly marginalized just because of their work Working with researchers with lived experience was a hugely beneficial opportunity to better understand the best questions to ask and sensibly empower involved sex workers to be heard.

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