Risk Factors Related to Sexual Exploitation for a Cohort of Female Sex Workers in Bogotá

Iglesias, Carlos (2022) Risk Factors Related to Sexual Exploitation for a Cohort of Female Sex Workers in Bogotá. In: Sex Work, Labour and Relations : New Directions and Reflections. Palgrave Advances in Sex Work Studies (PASWS) . Palgrave Macmillan, Cham, pp. 209-242. ISBN 9783031046049

Abstract

This chapter explores structural, environmental, and individual factors associated with reporting sexual exploitation among a sample of female sex workers in Bogotá. It examines secondary survey data on paid sexual activity with 2684 sex workers conducted in 2017. Multivariable logistic regression was used to test for associations with self-reported victimisation. Findings reveal that neither Venezuelan nor internal migrants were more at risk than locals in reporting sexual exploitation. The associations with payment per client, having graduated high school, having a post-secondary education, and working on the street were also not significant. Instead, reporting police harassment (AOR = 5.70, p  These findings challenge the conflation between migration, sex work, and sexual exploitation by demonstrating that migration is not a risk factor to victimisation and that sex workers do not have the same risk of reporting exploitation. This chapter concludes that legislation in Colombia facilitates police harassment and stigma against sex work which are associated with an increase in the risk of sexual exploitation.