title: Female sex work within the rural immigrant Latino community in the southeast United States: an exploratory qualitative community-based participatory research study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Little is known about the structure and context of, and the risks encountered in, sex work in the United States.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This community-based participatory research (CBPR) study explored female sex work and the feasibility of conducting a larger study of sex work within the immigrant Latino community in North Carolina.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twelve abbreviated life story interviews were conducted with Latina women who sold sex, other women who sold sex to Latino men, and Latino men who hired sex workers. Content analysis was used to analyze narrative data.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Themes emerged to describe the structure of sex work, motivations to sell and hire sex, and the sexual health-related needs of sex workers. Lessons learned included the ease of recruiting sex workers and clients, the need to develop relationships with controllers and bar owners/managers, and the high compensation costs to reimburse sex workers for participation.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Study findings suggest that it is possible to identify and recruit sex workers and clients and collect formative data within this highly vulnerable and neglected community; the prevention of HIV and STDs is a priority among sex workers, and the need for a larger study to include non-Latino men who report using Latina sex workers, other community insiders (e.g., bartenders), and service providers for Latina sex workers.
authors.affiliation: Wake Forest School of Medicine.
authors.forename: Scott D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Rhodes
authors.forename: Amanda
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tanner
authors.forename: Stacy
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Duck
authors.forename: Robert E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Aronson
authors.forename: Jorge
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Alonzo
authors.forename: Manuel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Garcia
authors.forename: Aimee M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Wilkin
authors.forename: Rebecca
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cashman
authors.forename: Aaron T
authors.initials: AT
authors.lastname: Vissman
authors.forename: Cindy
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Miller
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kroeger
authors.forename: Michelle J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Naughton
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D055812:Community-Based Participatory Research; D054242:Emigrants and Immigrants / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017058:Mexican Americans / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009042:Motivation; D009657:North Carolina; D036301:Qualitative Research; D034121:Reproductive Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D012424:Rural Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D060386:Sex Workers / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012725:Sexual Behavior / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000523:psychology; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology