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Narratives of Violence, Pathology, and Empowerment: Mental Health Needs Assessment of Home‐Based Female Sex Workers in Rural India
Author(s) -
Sardana Srishti,
Marcus Marina,
Verdeli Helen
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
journal of clinical psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.124
H-Index - 119
eISSN - 1097-4679
pISSN - 0021-9762
DOI - 10.1002/jclp.22364
Subject(s) - mental health , focus group , empowerment , psychology , sex work , narrative , stigma (botany) , outreach , psychological resilience , shame , gender studies , medicine , social psychology , psychiatry , sociology , family medicine , political science , human immunodeficiency virus (hiv) , linguistics , philosophy , anthropology , law
This study explores the narratives of psychological distress and resilience among a group of female sex workers who use residential spaces to attend to clients in rural India. The narratives reflect the lived experiences of these women. They describe the women's reasons for opting into sex work; guilt, shame, and stigma related to their sex worker status; experiences with intimate partner and domestic violence; health‐related problems; communication with their family members about their sex worker status; mental health referral practices among the women; and elements of resilience and strength that they experience within themselves and within their community of fellow sex workers. The article also offers elements of our own experiences of recruiting the women to participate in the focus group, training local outreach workers in conducting focus group discussions, and forging a collaboration with a local community‐based organization to highlight important barriers, challenges, and strategies for planning a group‐based discussion to explore the mental health needs of home‐based sex workers.