Prevalence and Levels of Severity of Childhood Trauma among Mexican Female Sex Workers: A Comparison of Two Mexico Border Cities

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine the prevalence of childhood trauma in a sample of female sex workers in Mexico. One hundred and nine female sex workers were recruited from Nuevo Laredo and Ciudad Juarez and administered the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire. Findings reveal a high prevalence rate of childhood trauma among the total sample (94%). Nuevo Laredo sex workers had significantly higher total mean and subscale scores and levels of severity compared to Ciudad Juarez sex workers. This research is important because it examines the extent of childhood trauma among sex workers in a developing country. Moreover, it contributes to the few existing studies on sex workers that have documented the circumstances and factors unique to rural and urban environments. These results underline the importance of early identification of childhood trauma and implementation of appropriate prevention, intervention, and policies that might reduce these females' trajectory into sex work.

Keywords:

• childhood trauma
• female sex workers
• Mexico

Acknowledgments

This study was funded by the National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Drug Abuse (R24DA07234-S2).

Notes

¹ The “site profile” form included the following: (a) venue name, (b) location (i.e., street and area), (c) brief physical description of site, (d) brief description of girls working at site (age, physical appearance, etc.), (e) number of girls working (specify day of the week), (f) brief description of client (including nationality), (g) number of clients (specify day of the week), (h) brief description of people working at site (i.e., bartenders, security, others), and (i) opinion of socioeconomic status of site.