Browsing by Subject "sex work"

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    Constructing Radical Black Female Subjectivities: Survival Pimping in Austin Clarke’s The Polished Hoe
    (Project Muse, 2015) Springer, Jennifer Thorington; Department of English, School of Liberal Arts
    This essay seeks to add to progressive scholarship that probes the ways in which black women create safe spaces to unapologetically accept their sexuality and the sexual agency that evolves as a result while simultaneously acknowledging the fluidity of feminine identities. In what follows, the author begin by describing the implications of what bell hooks calls "radical black subjectivity" for the sexual agency that may be secured by women who participate in sex work. Second, she examines how Clarke's protagonists, Ma and Mary, evolve and emerge as sexual agents rather than mere victims in their quest for personhood. Their reinvention of self surpasses personal subjectivity and serves as a testament to the struggles of women like themselves who resist from the margins, validating such experiences as worthy of scholarly critique. The third part of the essay challenges the simplistic and troubling idea that women who participate in sex work are merely objects -- objectified by men or self-objectified.
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    Sexually transmitted infections in association with area-level prostitution and drug-related arrests
    (Wolters Kluwer, 2020-12-15) Magee, Lauren A.; Fortenberry, J. Dennis; Nelson, Tammie; Roth, Alexis; Arno, Janet; Wiehe, Sarah E.; School of Public and Environmental Affairs
    Objectives: Examine the mediators and moderators of area-level prostitution arrests and sexually transmitted infections (STI) using population level data. Methods Using justice and public health STI/HIV data in Marion County (Indianapolis), Indiana, over an 18-year period, we assessed the overall association of area-level prostitution and drug-related arrests and STI /HIV, and mediators and moderators of the relationship. Point-level arrests were geocoded and aggregated by census block group. Results: Results indicate a positive relationship between numbers of prostitution arrests and area-level STI rates. There was a dose-response relationship between prostitution arrests and STI rates when accounting for drug-related arrests. The highest quintile block groups had significantly higher rates of reported chlamydia (IRR: 3.29, 95% CI: 2.82, 3.84), gonorrhea (IRR: 4.73, 95% CI: 3.90, 5.57), syphilis (IRR: 4.28, 95% CI: 3:47, 5.29), and HIV (IRR: 2.76, 95% CI: 2.24, 3.39) compared with the lowest quintile. When including drug arrests, the second (IRR: 1.19, 95% CI: 1.03, 1.38) and the third (IRR: 1.20, 95% CI: 1.02, 1.41) highest quintile block groups had lower IRR for reported rates of chlamydia, indicating that drug arrests mediated the prostitution arrest effect. Conclusions: These findings inform public health agencies and community-based organizations that conduct outreach in these areas to expand their efforts to include harm reduction and HIV/STI testing for both sex workers and individuals experiencing substance use disorder. Another implication of these data is the importance of greater collaboration in public health and policing efforts to address overlapping epidemics that engage both health and legal intervention.