Violence against women associated with arrests for sex trade but not drug charges.
The current study was designed to examine associations between gender-based violence and arrests due to sex trade or drug-related charges among a statewide sample of incarcerated women in Rhode Island. Incarcerated women were asked to participate in brief pre- and posttest surveys of their experiences of violence, sexual risk and substance use behaviors, as part of a study on the effectiveness of a family planning program in a state correctional facility; data from pretest surveys (N=447) were used for current analyses. Logistic regression analyses adjusted for demographics were used to assess significant associations between gender-based violence variables (i.e., adolescent intimate partner violence (IPV), adult IPV, childhood sexual assault (SA), adolescent SA, and adult SA) and arrests due to sex trade or drug-related charges. Significant relationships were observed between arrests for sex trade and adult SA (OR=2.1, 95%CI=1.2-3.6), adolescent IPV (OR=2.5, 95%CI=1.5-4.1), and adult IPV (OR=1.7, 95%CI=1.1-2.6); no significant associations were observed for drug-related charges. Findings from the current study demonstrate that experiences of gender-based violence are associated with arrests for sex trade but not drug-related charges. Interventions for incarcerated women are needed to consider and address history of victimization from gender-based violence and its relation to women's historic and future sex trade involvement.
Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Boston University School of Public Health, 715 Albany St., T2W, Boston, MA 02118, USA. anitaraj@bu.edu
Anita
A
Raj
Jennifer G
JG
Clarke
Jay G
JG
Silverman
Jennifer
J
Rose
Cynthia
C
Rosengard
Megan
M
Hebert
Michael
M
Stein
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D018585:Battered Women; D003416:Criminal Law; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008875:Middle Aged; D011329:Prisoners; D012237:Rhode Island; D011477:Sex Work; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders; D014754:Violence