Correlates of Sex Trading in Victimized Women on Probation and Parole

• In Event: Gendered Perspectives of Probation and Parole

Abstract

Among women who engage in sex trading, research indicates that 90% were physically victimized and 70% were sexually victimized as children. Continuing into adulthood, victimization, including IPV, is prevalent among women who trade sex. Victimized women on probation or parole, due to community placement, are likely at a higher risk for engaging in sex trading than incarcerated women; however, little is known regarding sex trading in this population. Informed by the Comprehensive Health Seeking and Coping Paradigm, this study investigated the ability of demographics, substance use, attachment, social support, and PTSD to predict sex trading.

Women (N=406), with a history of victimization, were sampled from an urban Kentucky county. Women were recruited through probation/parole offices or flyers, then interviewed. Two logistic regression analyses were run examining the impact of predictors on lifetime sex trading and sex trading during the past year.

41% of the women reported trading sex during their lifetimes; 10% traded during the past year. Results indicate that age; homelessness; drug treatment; attachment security; PTSD; lifetime drug use; and regular use of marijuana, cocaine/crack, and sedatives are significant predictors of sex trading (R² range=.21-.29).

Practical implications are discussed including tailoring interventions to reduce recidivism in this marginalized population.

Authors

• Katherine M. Winham, University of Louisville

• Seana Golder, University of Louisville

• Tanya Rae Renn, University of Louisville

• George E. Higgins, University of Louisville

• T.K. Logan, University of Kentucky