Abstract

In this paper, female sex workers tell stories of their interactions with health care providers (HCP) in four cities in the Republic of Ireland. While Irish society has made great progress in listening to the sexual stories of women that were historically silenced (e.g. stories of abortion, sexual abuse), sex workers have not benefited from this new climate. Regularly silenced by parliamentarians and non-governmental organisations who speak upon their behalf, sex workers are consigned within a narrative of victimhood and coercion. This paper draws from a participant action research study conducted in 2019–20 and explores women’s motivations in whether to disclose their sex work, and the strategies deployed to conceal it while seeking access to sexual health care. These strategies included traveling beyond their own communities for health care and STI home testing. The paper identifies women, particularly, migrants who felt their precarious position made it impossible for them to be truthful about their sex work to health care providers, exposing them to greater health risk. The paper understands this marginality within a context of structural violence where sex worker health is shaped by institutional power relations creating unequal health outcomes but is also challenged by stories of solidarity.

摘要

在本文中，女性性工作者讲述了她们与爱尔兰共和国四个城市的医疗保健提供者 (HCP) 互动的故事。虽然爱尔兰社会在倾听历史上被压制的女性的性故事（例如堕胎、性虐待的故事）方面取得了很大进展，但性工作者并没有从这种新气候中受益。议员和代表他们发言的非政府组织经常让性工作者保持沉默，性工作者被寄托在受害和胁迫的叙述中。本文借鉴了 2019-20 年进行的一项参与者行动研究，探讨了女性是否披露性工作的动机，以及在寻求获得性保健服务时隐藏它的策略。这些策略包括走出自己的社区进行医疗保健和 STI 家庭检测。该论文确定了女性，特别是移民，她们认为自己的不稳定地位使她们无法向医疗保健提供者诚实地讲述自己的性工作，从而使她们面临更大的健康风险。本文在结构性暴力的背景下理解了这种边缘性，其中性工作者的健康受到制度性权力关系的影响，造成了不平等的健康结果，但也受到团结故事的挑战。