Reflections on sisterhood: Empowering and disempowering relationships with other women in the lives and health of female sex workers in Tijuana

Background: Women working in the sex work industry in Tijuana constantly battle with issues of identity and self-image in addition to problems they face while working. The significant social interactions in their lives are not constrained to those directly related to the job. Purpose: This study examines the ways in which social interactions impact the health of female sex workers. Methods: The importance of relationships female sex workers have with other women emerged from a Grounded Theory study that examines the social processes involved with the development of a positive self-image. Twenty in-depth interviews were conducted with female sex workers at a municipal health clinic where registered sex workers receive routine health screenings. Findings: The social interactions in which women are involved outside the world of sex work can have an impact on their lives. These interactions include family, children, partners, and confidants. Specifically, relationships with other women can serve to both empower and disempower female sex workers as they juggle life as a sex worker and their roles as a mothers, daughters, sisters, and friends. Discussion: Sisterhood, the powerful bond between women, can provide female sex workers with spaces to share their life experiences and to learn from each other. In order to develop public health interventions that make use of sisterhood, it is necessary to gain a better understanding of the dynamics of their social relationships with other women as well as the impact of these interactions on their self-image and their health.