Women sex workers

This assignment will also describe three evidence-based interventions that can be utilized in enhancing the access to preventive and curative health care services among the population. Background of the marginalized group Sawicki, Meffert, Read & Heinz, (2019), defines sex workers as individuals (both male and female), who offer sex services for compensation either money, favors or other modes of compensation. In the USA, the criminalization and illegal nature of sex work have made it significantly difficult to establish accurate data on Sex workers. However, research in singular settings such as prisons and health clinics provided basic information on the health disparities of women sex workers which can be utilized in determining the health needs and interventions for this group. The number of sex workers in the USA has been estimated to be a conservative figure of over 1 to 2 million, 90% of whom depend on a pimp with no accurate figures of the population as individuals shy away from disclosing their sex work status due to stigma (Sawicki, Meffert, Read & Heinz, 2019).

Women sex workers access to healthcare is also impeded by their marginalization due to their low economic abilities which leads to limited access to healthcare insurance, low education levels which result in low health and sexual and reproductive health rights literacy and social rejection. In most of the healthcare systems, the formal healthcare system excludes sex workers (the health systems do not exclusively ensure non-medical satisfaction of care for sex workers ) further marginalizing and isolating the group leading to heightened health disparities (Wahed et al. Economic Aspects of Women Sex Workers According to Sawicki, Meffert, Read & Heinz, (2019), full-time sex work industry generates over 14 billion dollars in the USA. The significant costs generated, however, come at a high expense in costs of providing healthcare, protection from violence and social services, management of drug abuse and addictions amongst the women sex workers.

The criminalization of sex work makes women sex workers vulnerable and unable to negotiate safe sex or control incomes often due to trafficking. Ethical Issues The human rights defining no discrimination and equality describe that all women have a right to access healthcare with dignity and in an anon-judgmental way regardless of their social-economic or health status. This right is further underpinned by International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) that stresses the importance of health care providers ensuring care delivery in a non-stereotypical and nonjudgmental way ((FIGO, 2016). The nursing code of ethics provides that nurses ought to offer patient care ensuring respect for the dignity and responding to the unique needs for every patient and provide for and protect the rights of every patient. These provisions provide a basis for the ethical issues in providing healthcare services for women sex workers.

Ethical issues in caring for sex workers emanate from the respect to ethical issues of justice which underpin the non-discriminatory and non-judgmental access to healthcare. Health education among the women sex workers enlightens and empowers them in negotiating for safe sex as well as providing comfort when seeking healthcare services as well as understanding when and where to seek health services (Huschke, 2019). To measure the outcomes of the health education for sex workers, I will initially collect data on their utilization of preventive healthcare services and incidents of unsafe sex among the sex workers within my practice environment and compare the baseline data to identify changes within one year. Other measures of this intervention include identifying the number of women sex workers who report better health outcomes. The second intervention will be to establish peer support groups for female sex workers.

Social marginalization and stigmatization of sex workers lead to both health and safety risks for the population consequently reducing their access to health and social services (Benoit et al. In the care for women sex workers, ethical issues and concerns further limit access to care. Un supportive legal-justice systems that criminalize sex work creates a poor social-justice system for them which hinders health access and care. Interventions such as empowering the sex works on their health risks and needs as well as linking them to friendly caregivers, creating peer support systems and groups and ensuring persistence and sustain advocacy for their rights are key interventions that can ensure improved health access to healthcare. References Abel, G. Commentary: Sex work is here to stay, and decriminalization improves safety and social justice. Sex workers as peer health advocates: community empowerment and transformative learning through a Canadian pilot program.

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