‘[Peers Give] You Hope that You Can Change Too': Peers’ Helping Relationships for Women Exiting Street-based Sex Trade

ABSTRACT A growing body of research demonstrates that peer support can facilitate drug use and mental health recovery and reduce health care costs. However, with few exceptions, peer support has not been systematically studied in the context of street-based sex trade, despite its potential benefits for this vulnerable population. This paper fills this gap by looking at the impact of peer support on 29 substance-use involved women formerly selling sex on the streets. Women were recruited for in-depth interviews from five recovery programmes for women with substance-use problems in a large metropolitan area in Northeast US. Results indicate that peer support can facilitate women's exit by providing a safe and accepting arena to share and normalise past experiences in the sex trade, serving as role models, and providing trustworthy advice. The findings emphasise the need for collaboration between peers and professionals in programmes that assist women exiting the sex trade; they also highlight providers’ limitations in interactions with exiting women, and stress the need for non-judgmental attention to women exiting the sex trade.