Job Motivation and its Relationship With Sexual Attitude Among Iranian Sex Workers

Abstract

Objectives: The prevalence of high-risk behaviors among different parts of society has attracted attentions to prostitution as one of the most important current problems. This study was carried out to determine the job motivation and its relationship with sexual attitude of sex workers in west of Iran during 2015. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 173 prostitutes. All eligible female prostitutes had a record in state welfare offices, health care centers and drug rehabilitation centers and also street prostitutes sampling was performed through snowball sampling method. Data were collected using socio-demographic, job motivation and Brief Sexual Attitudes Scale (BSAS) questionnaires and were analyzed by using descriptive statistical methods and Kruskal-Wallis test. Results: The average age of first sexual intercourse and entry into prostitution was 19.1 and 24.3 years, respectively. The mean (SD) score of attitude was 59.8 (4.3). Making money was stated as the main reason for sexual intercourse by the majority of cases (65.9%), while less than half of them pointed to poor family economic condition as the reason for choosing this job. Based on KruskalWallis test, there was a significant relationship between attitude score and questions of one and seven of motivation questionnaire (P < 0.005). Conclusion: Making money due to poverty and poor economic condition was the main job motivation behind prostitution followed by satisfaction of sexual needs. It can be argued that economic factors should be highlighted and more responsibility should be assumed in resolving this issue in the society.