Prostitution in the shadow of life-long sexual abuse: Arab women’s retrospective experiences

ABSTRACT

The present study uses the life-course and intersectionality perspectives to explore the meaning that aging Arab women attribute to their lived experiences of life-long sexual abuse in the shadow of engaging in prostitution. Interpretive phenomenological analysis was used to analyze the narratives of 10 older Arab women in Israel who were engaged in prostitution. Four themes emerged: experiencing childhood in the shadow of sexual abuse, becoming a prostitute, being entrapped in prostitution, and settling accounts with the native culture. Women aging in prostitution experience a harsh reality of abuse and loss. The present study points to multiple channels of abuse throughout the life course, from childhood until old age.

KEYWORDS:

• Arab society
• intersectionality perspective
• life-course perspective
• older women
• prostitution
• sexual abuse

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The participants of this study did not give written consent for their data to be shared publicly, so due to the sensitive nature of the research, supporting data is not available.

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.