Self-Care Practices and Associated Sexual Health Risks Among Cisgender Women Sex Workers in Colombia

Introduction Sex work is a social phenomenon characterized by exchanging sexual services for money or goods. In Colombia, it generally occurs in clandestine and unsafe environments due to social exclusion related to stigma, discrimination,
and criminalization of the occupation. Sex workers may experience health risks due to the ineffectiveness of some self-care
measures in exercising sexual practices.
Methods This qualitative, constructivist, hermeneutic phenomenological study explored the sexual health self-care practices
of 34 cisgender women sex workers over 18 years of age in Colombia from the analytical lens of intersectionality. Data were
obtained through in-depth interviews face-to-face and discussion groups between July 2021 and March 2022.
Results After reflective thematic analysis with an inductive approach to the data, five general themes emerged: meaning of
self-care promoting practices, relationship with the healthcare system, empowerment and personal autonomy, vulnerability
of cisgender women sex workers, and low-risk perception.
Conclusions and Policy Implications The findings show the need to promote and provide humanized, friendly, and selfsustainable sexual health care with educational strategies that favor the intersectional cooperation of preventive care linked
to the body, conceptual, and cultural memory of sex workers, providing them with the necessary tools to manage sexual
health risks from their situated and contextual reality with a perspective of rights, social justice, and gender equity.