The Interconnectedness of Street Life, Sex Work, Drugs, and Victimization in the Lives of Women in U.S. Jails

• In Event: Transactional Sex and Trafficking: Representations and Realities

Abstract

This paper examines the interconnectedness of street life, sex work, drugs (use, addiction, and selling), and victimization among 115 jailed women across four U.S. sites. One-hundred-fifteen randomly sampled women in jails in Denver, CO, Washington, D.C./Baltimore, MD, and rural South Carolina and Idaho took part in detailed life history calendars (LHCs) as part of a Bureau of Justice Assistance funded study. These qualitative data provide a detailed account of the sequencing of events among adult and childhood victimizations, drugs, and housing/homelessness. Over a third (37%) of the women reported sex work/prostitution participation, and most reported a range of adverse life events, including major victimizations and traumas.

Authors

• Joanne E Belknap, University of Colorado Boulder

• Dana DeHart, University of South Carolina

• Shannon Lynch, Idaho State University