Theme: Models of Care Year: 2024
Background: The male partners of female sex workers are often ostracized as ‘pimps’ and abusers and the complexity of the relationship between the two is understudied. We highlight the fact that this group exists and that the interplay between these sex workers and the men they have relationships with is important, can encompass emotionally dependency and/or addiction, and cannot be ignored if we are to work effectively to address the social exclusion faced by both sets of partners. We are developing a model of care to define the population of interest in context of harm minimisation and access to care.
Description of model of care/intervention/program:
i.Develop a sex worker led referral pathway ensuring that they have control and agency.
ii.Facilitate fast-track access into health, drug and social services as appropriate.
iii.Testing for hepatitis B&C, HIV and sexually transmitted infections syphilis.
iv.Offer joint casework and client support with other services.
v.Challenge co-dependency and gender-based violence within relationships.
Effectiveness: Productive working relationships with other stakeholders has been established wherein they have co-designed the service and have buy-in to its success. Service user feedback of this pilot has been positive in the context of female-led referrals and reassured that any outreach activity occurs separately. To date initial outcomes include two male partners successfully completing drug rehabilitation; one supported throughout the family court and social services processes to gain custody of his child; one supported to re-establish contact with estranged family at the end stage of his life and died of chronic health conditions at home.
Conclusion and next steps: The social stigma faced by these men as a result of their relationships can inhibit their engagement with services. This model recognises the needs of this group, but also the challenges in the context co-dependency, sexual violence and safe-guarding.
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