The Sexuality of Sex Workers: Sexual Arousability and the Sexual Profile of Women Engaged in Prostitution in Serbia.

BACKGROUND:In a view of sex work being a sexual behavioural activity, the main objective of our research was to explore the sexuality of sex workers in Serbia regarding to intensity of their sexual arousability.SUBJECTS AND METHODS:The research was conducted on 30 sex workers and 30 controls of randomly selected social and demographic characteristics, without any signs of psychiatric morbidity. For the evaluation of the intensity of sexual arousability, SAI (Sexual Arousability Index) questionnaire was used.RESULTS:The analysis of the main total scores of the SAI for the sex workers and control participants showed no statistically significant difference in the overall intensity of arousability (p>0.05). However, item by item analysis of the questionnaire showed qualitative difference in sexuality between sex workers and controls, related to certain aspects of sexuality.CONCLUSIONS:These findings allow the space for further research in the way of identifying origins of qualitative issues in the sexual profile of sex workers, in correlation to women who are not sex workers, i.e. whether they had been result of potential biological, specific psychodynamic factors, or have been formed as a result of the direct influence of the sex work.