SEXUAL-BEHAVIOR AND ITS RELATIONSHIP TO DRUG-TAKING AMONG PROSTITUTESIN SOUTH LONDON

The precise manner in which the use of different types of drugs is rel ated to prostitution has not been adequately researched. This study in vestigates patterns of drug-taking and sexual behaviour among a group of women working as prostitutes in south London; it also looks at pros titution in which sex is offered in return for drugs, at the links bet ween heroin, cocaine and alcohol use and sexual behaviour, and at the association between severity of dependence and sexual behaviour. All o f the women in our sample (n = 51) were actively working as prostitute s. More than half of them had given sex for drugs, though this was a r elatively infrequent occurrence. The majority of them were using heroi n and many of them were moderately or severely dependent upon heroin. More than one-third had shared injecting equipment after it had alread y been used. Almost two-thirds reported that they only worked as a pro stitute in order to fund their use of drugs (predominantly heroin), an d that they would not continue working as a prostitute if they were no t still using drugs. The more severely dependent upon heroin they were , the more likely they were to report these links between heroin use a nd prostitution. About half of the women in our sample said that they first started to work as a prostitute in order to pay for drugs. The w omen who began to use heroin prior to prostitution were more severely dependent on heroin and described themselves as being trapped in prost itution by the need to maintain a supply of heroin. Very few women reg ularly used cocaine in association with their prostitution. There are grounds for concern about the alcohol consumption of these women. Abou t one-quarter of the women said that they used alcohol every day; some of them reported drinking at levels which greatly exceed recommended limits for women, and some were drinking at levels which were likely t o be physically damaging.