Table 1.
Characteristics of all participants stratified by ethnic or racial identity at baseline
| Ethnic or racial identity | p value* | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All | Ethnically minoritized | White-identity | ||
| n (%) | n (%) | n (%) | ||
| Total | 274# | 72 (26.4%)§ | 202 (73.7%) | |
| Demographic characteristics | ||||
| Gay, lesbian, homosexual or bisexual⌃ | 143 (55.4%) | 34 (49.3%) | 109 (57.7%) | 0.230 |
| Cis or trans man** | 76 (27. 8%) | 19 (27.1%) | 55 (27.8%) | 0.919 |
| Overseas national | 78 (28.5%) | 12 (16.9%) | 65 (32.7%) | 0.012 |
| Born outside the UK | 137 (47.7%) | 35 (48.6%) | 92 (45.5%) | 0.654 |
| Education (primary/secondary) | 130 (46.9%) | 34 (48.6%) | 91 (46.4%) | 0.758 |
| Age (median years (IQR)) | 31 (25–39) | 33 (27–47) | 30 (18–52) | 0.007 |
| Circumstances of sex work | ||||
| Street as main place to find clients | 103 (35.9%) | 37 (51.4%) | 62 (30.7%) | 0.002 |
| Median years in sex work (IQR) | 6 (3–14) | 8 (3–21) | 5 (2–12) | < 0.001 |
| Age of first sex work (median) (IQR)) | 22 (18–27) | 21 (18–27) | 22 (19–27) | 0.318 |
| Number of clients a week (> 3) | 135 (47.4%) | 33 (45.8%) | 97 (48.0%) | 0.750 |
| Mostly work alone | 155 (60.8%) | 44 (59.1%) | 104 (63.8%) | 0.501 |
| Mostly work at night | 127 (51.4%) | 33 (52.4%) | 89 (51.4%) | 0.899 |
| Sex work as main income | 196 (70.5%) | 50 (69.4%) | 137 (71.0%) | 0.807 |
| Always works with CCTV camera | 55 (24.9%) | 17 (27.9%) | 37 (24.3%) | 0.638 |
| Always screen clients | 110 (44.2%) | 28 (41.2%) | 80 (46.8%) | 0.432 |
| Indicators of social exclusion | ||||
| Difficulty in making ends meet | 174 (60.6%) | 49 (68.1%) | 116 (57.8%) | 0.114 |
| Currently in arrears | 122 (53.5%) | 29 (49.2%) | 90 (55.6%) | 0.398 |
| Not receiving benefits | 161 (66.0%) | 47 (72.3%) | 110 (64.0%) | 0.225 |
| In unstable housing (in the last 4 weeks) | 78 (28.6%) | 25 (36.8%) | 49 (25.0%) | 0.095 |
| Past eviction | 67 (25.9%) | 17 (25.8%) | 47 (26.0%) | 0.902 |
| Children taken into care at some point | 32 (12.1%) | 7 (9.7%) | 25 (12.4%) | 0.530 |
| Access to services | ||||
| Registered at a GP practice | 197 (68.6%) | 58 (80.6%) | 132 (65.3%) | 0.016 |
| Recently accessed sex worker project | 95 (33.1%) | 30 (41.7%) | 61 (30.4%) | 0.076 |
| Unmet mental health need*** | 90 (34.5%) | 33 (47.8%) | 53 (28.9%) | 0. 005 |
| Alcohol and other drug use | ||||
| Problematic drinking (Audit-C ≥ 5) | 115 (43.1%) | 26 (38.2%) | 87 (46.3%) | 0.252 |
| Current drug use (4 weeks)$ | 159 (59.6%) | 49 (70.0%) | 104 (55.3%) | 0.033 |
| Daily crack or heroin use | 70 (24.4%) | 25 (34.7%) | 43 (21.3%) | 0.023 |
| Ever injected drugs | 58 (21.5%) | 19 (28.4%) | 37 (19.1%) | 0.110 |
| Partner supplies drugs | 70 (26.8%) | 27 (39.7%) | 40 (21.6%) | 0.007 |
| Violence and mental health | ||||
| Anxiety/depression (PHQ4) | 122 (42.5%) | 30 (41.7%) | 86 (42.6%) | 0.894 |
| Recent rape (6 months) | 52 (21.9%) | 16 (25.4%) | 34 (20.7%) | 0.448 |
| Recent emotional violence (6 months) | 191 (67.0%) | 59 (83.1%) | 126 (62.4%) | 0.001 |
*p value derived from Pearson χ2 tests (categorical variables) and two-sample Wilcoxon Mann–Whitney tests (continuous variables)
#Fourteen people did not report an ethnic identity
⌃Gay/homosexual (n = 53), bisexual (n = 71), any other term or do not use a term (n = 9)
**Trans men, trans women (n = < 10)
***Wanted mental health treatment, had not received it
$Eighty-eight (55%) use heroin or crack; 71 used ecstasy, amphetamines, marijuana, cocaine
§Asian/Asian British (n = 12), Black, African, Caribbean, Black British (n = 25), multiple, mixed, other (including Hispanic, Latino, other Asian) (n = 22), traveler or Roma (< 10), Middle Eastern (< 5)