Typhanye V. Penniman, Ph. William W. Latimer, Ph. This study is a secondary data analysis aimed to examine the influence of recent homelessness on recent sex trade among pregnant women in drug treatment after controlling for psychiatric comorbidity, age, education, and race.
Eighty-one pregnant women from a drug treatment program in Baltimore, Maryland attended an in-person interview and completed the Structured Clinical Interview for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders-IV for Axis I disorders, the HIV Risk Behavior Interview, and demographic questionnaires, which assessed psychiatric symptoms, recent homelessness, and sexual risk behavior respectively.
Women who experienced recent homelessness had a 4. Addressing both homelessness and psychiatric problems may effectively reduce sex trade and risk for infectious diseases, which could adversely impact maternal and child health outcomes. During pregnancy, health consequences of HIV and other infectious diseases are detrimental to both mother and child Anzivino et al. Given the high rate of recent sex trade among this population, which increases risk for infectious diseases that would adversely impact the health of mothers and their fetuses, understanding the underlying mechanisms that influence sex trade is essential for informing effective infectious disease prevention interventions.
Meeting subsistence needs such as finding housing is a potential driving mechanism of sex trade among this population of women that warrants further attention. When vulnerable populations of women, such as those who abuse substances, are faced with meeting immediate survival needs such as securing shelter, finding financial resources, and ensuring safety for themselves and their children they may resort to survival sex Greene et al.
Pregnant women in drug treatment may turn to sex trade as a means to survive, which includes finding a safe and adequate living space.
