Group Offers Guidance on Screening for Female Sex Workers

By Kelly Young

Edited by André Sofair, MD, MPH, and William E. Chavey, MD, MS

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommends that clinicians screen for sex work in a nonjudgmental way when taking a sexual history. In its committee opinion on caring for female sex workers, the group recommends that clinicians:

• Ask whether patients have exchanged sex for money, goods, or services; consider using a self-completed history form, which patients may feel more comfortable completing honestly.

• Be aware that adolescents and women who engage in sex work may have an elevated risk for sexually transmitted infections, violence, incarceration, and reproductive coercion.

• Offer all appropriate cancer screenings and vaccinations and more frequent healthcare visits.

• Be aware of the potential need for pre- and postexposure prophylaxis for HIV.