A case for a health promotion framework: the psychosocial experiences of female, migrant sex workers in Ireland
International Journal of Migration, Health and Social Care
ISSN: 1747-9894
Article publication date: 27 October 2017
Issue publication date: 5 December 2017
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the barriers preventing women in prostitution from accessing co-ordinated health services in the Republic of Ireland. By examining the experiences of migrant women engaged in prostitution, the research contributes to knowledge pertaining to the psychosocial experiences of female sex workers’ access to healthcare.
Design/methodology/approach
The study interviewed migrant women across Ireland, using a biographical narrative approach and an adapted voice-centred relational model of analysis to determine the necessity for a health promotion strategy for this demographic.
Findings
The findings indicate migrant women work primarily indoors, hold precarious legal status and are in Ireland due to processes of globalisation, migration and economic necessity. The women discussed their entry into prostitution and their experiences within prostitution in the context of their psychosocial experiences.
Research limitations/implications
While the findings are from a small qualitative sample confined to the Republic of Ireland, it is the first study to prioritise migrant sex workers’ psychosocial experiences in Ireland.
Practical implications
The research concludes education and service development that respects the various social determinants impacting women in prostitution is missing but remains necessary in Ireland. It finds a gendered reform of policies using an ecological framework for health that can address issues of poverty, migration and the global trends of the sex industry.
Social implications
This means a national review of current services in health, social work and community development fields is timely.
Originality/value
This paper gives insight into the lives of migrant women involved in the sex industry and can make an important contribution to future research directions and practice in Irish and European prostitution contexts.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the National University of Irelands Galway PhD Fellowship fund. The authors would like to acknowledge the Discipline of Health Promotion, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, National University of Ireland Galway (NUIG), where Leigh-Ann Sweeney is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow. Leigh-Ann Sweeney acknowledges Dr Sharron A. FitzGerald from Institute for Sociology Ludwig-Maximilians University, Munich, Germany for her co-authorship and expertize in the area of migration. The authors would like to thank all the participants in the study who have given ‘a voice’, to foreign nationals working in the sex trade in Ireland.
Citation
Sweeney, L.-A. and FitzGerald, S. (2017), "A case for a health promotion framework: the psychosocial experiences of female, migrant sex workers in Ireland", International Journal of Migration, Health and Social Care, Vol. 13 No. 4, pp. 419-431. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJMHSC-04-2016-0017
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2017, Emerald Publishing Limited