Vidas em promoção

: a influência da crise económica na prevenção da saúde na prostituição

Abstract

In the XXI century, prostitution, although called the oldest job in the world, continues to be an invisible activity to many sectors of society. The truth is that prostitution assumes itself more as a job, as a livelihood accepted by its workers by the need to survive and sustain their families. However it is clear that prostitution with its stigmatized status is a target of repressions and censorships, not being seen as a job that requires attention and healthcare. In the current socio-economic context, the relevance of this study is imposed by the need to understand the influence of the economical crisis on sex worker population’s health prevention. This study was carried out over six months with the collaboration of a supported program for sex workers, "Programa Autoestima". It was used observation techniques, records, field diaries of a sample of ten women which are in activity in Guimarães, surveyed by semi-structured interviews in order to assess their level of knowledge about risks and preventive practices. It was made a diversified analytical approach to issues that we consider relevant about sex work as well as interviews with the professionals that work in "Programa Autoestima" in order to contribute to the true knowledge of this issue in all its aspects. It was unarguable the contextualization of the public health particularly its current characteristics, as well as further advances and retreats over the years in the fight against STIs, as HIV / AIDS. This study was intended to bring out the concerns associated with the issue of prostitution, promoting STI prevention strategies realizing the correlation effects of the economic crisis on the behavior of these women. Still, we tried to emphasize the "Programa Autoestima" as a model of intervention in health promotion in vulnerable and stigmatized groups.

Date of Award	30 Jul 2015
Original language	Portuguese
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Alexandra Patrícia Lopes Esteves (Supervisor)