“What makes you think you have special privileges because you are a police officer?” A qualitative exploration of police's role in the risk environment of female sex workers

Abstract

Worldwide, female sex workers (FSWs) have high rates of HIV. Many factors that escalate their risk lay outside of their control, primarily in the environments in which they practice sex. An understudied yet powerful risk environment is that of police. We qualitatively explored sex workers' interactions with police in their personal and professional lives. Thirty-five FSWs were purposively sampled in Baltimore, MD, in 2012. Women discussed experiences of police verbal harassment, sexual exploitation, extortion, and a lack of police responsiveness to 911 calls in emergencies, largely partner violence. Women's mistrust of police was often developed at an early age and further reinforced by interactions in their personal and professional lives. The study underscores the need for targeting police in reducing sex workers' HIV and other risks. The case for police's role in generating risk is evident, which could be addressed through structural interventions targeting both police practices and policies.

Keywords:

• HIV
• female sex workers
• police
• qualitative

Acknowledgements

We thank our participants and community partners for their participation and enthusiasm for this work.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Center for Public Health and Human Rights Small Grants Program; the Hopkins Population Center under NICHD grant [grant number HD042854]; Johns Hopkins University Center for AIDS Research under [grant number 1P30AI094189].