Citation

Ulibarri MD, Hiller SP, Lozada R, Rangel MG, Stockman JK, Silverman JG, Ojeda VD. J. Environ. Public Health 2013; 2013: 631479.

Affiliation

Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093-0849, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2013, Hindawi Publishing)

DOI

10.1155/2013/631479

PMID

23737808

Abstract

This mixed methods study examined the prevalence and characteristics of physical and sexual abuse and depression symptoms among 624 injection drug-using female sex workers (FSW-IDUs) in Tijuana and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico; a subset of 47 from Tijuana also underwent qualitative interviews. Linear regressions identified correlates of current depression symptoms. In the interviews, FSW-IDUs identified drug use as a method of coping with the trauma they experienced from abuse that occurred before and after age 18 and during the course of sex work. In a multivariate linear regression model, two factors-ever experiencing forced sex and forced sex in the context of sex work-were significantly associated with higher levels of depression symptoms. Our findings suggest the need for integrated mental health and drug abuse services for FSW-IDUs addressing history of trauma as well as for further research on violence revictimization in the context of sex work in Mexico.

Language: en