Self-esteem evaluation of women sex workers

Abstract

This research aimed to analyze the construct of self-esteem in a group of sex workers from Campina Grande-PB. It is a qualitative, descriptive and cross-sectional study, which used an intentional and convenience sample. A sociodemographic questionnaire and Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale were applied. Data were transcribed and analyzed using the R version 3.5.2 software. The participants were 27 sex workers, aged between 18 and 58 years (M_age= 31.9; SD = 12.1), most of whom identified themselves as brown (59.3%), followed by white (18, 5%) and black (18.5%) and mostly single (70.4%) and heterosexual (81.5%). With regard to working time, they varied between 1 week and 40 years of work (M_work= 9.8; SD= 10.1). It was found that the mean self-esteem scores of the participants was 21.06 (SD=4.07), which is considered a low value. The self-esteem of sex workers is permeated by the social stigma of engaging in prostitution. However, it is not just about this aspect, being influenced by more intimate issues such as motherhood, family context, age, among other variables. It is suggested that new studies be carried out that deepen the experience of this public more and more, that analyze, mainly, the dimension of self-esteem in correlation with the sociodemographic aspects of these women.