Socio-demographic and sex work characteristics of female sex workers in Shimoga and Bangalore and associations with violence by perpetrator
| Characteristic | Overall | Recent violence by perpetrator | |||||
| No violence | Domestic violence only | Workplace and/or community violence only | Domestic and workplace/ community violence | P values (χ2 test) | |||
| %(n=727) | %(n=216) | %(n=80) | %(n=69) | ||||
| Age (years) | <25 | 13.1 | 12.2 | 13.3 | 22.0 | 12.7 | 0.18 |
| 25–29 | 22.4 | 20.9 | 24.6 | 21.9 | 36.1 | ||
| 30–39 | 45.2 | 44.6 | 47.4 | 41.0 | 42.7 | ||
| 40+ | 19.3 | 22.4 | 14.6 | 15.1 | 8.5 | ||
| Mean | 32.9 | 33.4 | 32.2 | 31.1 | 30.8 | ||
| Literacy | Illiterate | 54.5 | 56.2 | 56.2 | 37.8 | 57.9 | 0.07 |
| Marital status | Lives alone | 44.2 | 53.3 | 8.3 | 78.7 | 18.1 | <0.0001 |
| Lives with partner other than husband | 4.5 | 4.4 | 4.6 | 5.8 | 4.6 | ||
| Married and lives with husband | 51.2 | 42.3 | 87.0 | 15.5 | 76.2 | ||
| Regular partner | Yes | 66.2 | 58.3 | 95.1 | 46.6 | 88.2 | <0.0001 |
| Number of children | 0 | 9.7 | 8.7 | 7.3 | 22.5 | 12.2 | 0.03 |
| 1–2 | 60.3 | 62.0 | 60.1 | 57.8 | 53.9 | ||
| 3+ | 30.1 | 29.4 | 32.6 | 19.7 | 34.0 | ||
| Mean | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.2 | 1.7 | 2.0 | ||
| District | Bangalore | 50.8 | 54.0 | 42.1 | 64.1 | 50.2 | 0.022 |
| Shimoga | 49.3 | 46.0 | 57.9 | 35.9 | 49.8 | ||
| Additional income to sex work* | Yes | 66.1 | 67.5 | 67.7 | 58.5 | 59.5 | 0.31 |
| Age at first sex (years) | <15 | 48.2 | 49.4 | 44.9 | 38.9 | 64.6 | 0.07 |
| 15+ | 51.8 | 50.6 | 55.1 | 61.1 | 35.4 | ||
| Mean | 16.1 | 16.1 | 16.3 | 16.6 | 15.4 | ||
| Age started sex work (years) | <20 | 5.5 | 5.6 | 4.8 | 8.2 | 5.7 | 0.056 |
| 20–24 | 25.2 | 22.5 | 26.8 | 31.1 | 37.6 | ||
| 25–29 | 29.0 | 26.8 | 33.5 | 30.9 | 32.5 | ||
| 30+ | 40.3 | 45.1 | 35.0 | 29.8 | 24.3 | ||
| Mean | 28.3 | 28.9 | 27.7 | 26.9 | 25.4 | ||
| Place of solicitation of sex work | Home | 7.4 | 8.4 | 7.9 | 3.1 | 4.7 | 0.0008 |
| Rented room/lodge/brothel | 3.4 | 2.6 | 6.7 | 0.6 | 2.4 | ||
| Public place/tamasha/other | 32.5 | 28.3 | 31.5 | 53.7 | 43.4 | ||
| Phone | 56.7 | 60.7 | 53.9 | 42.6 | 49.4 | ||
| How much charged for sex with last client (rupees) | 400+ | 53.1 | 53.1 | 52.2 | 62.6 | 46.7 | 0.43 |
| Mean | 459.3 | 469.8 | 442.5 | 458.5 | 422.3 | ||
| Number of clients/week | 1–4 | 28.4 | 28.2 | 34.4 | 18.2 | 12.8 | <0.0001 |
| 5–9 | 45.0 | 46.6 | 47.3 | 37.7 | 42.0 | ||
| 10+ | 26.6 | 25.2 | 18.3 | 44.1 | 45.2 | ||
| Median | 6.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 | ||
| Migrant sex work (ever practiced sex work outside the district and/or in Mumbai) | Yes | 15.6 | 12.6 | 11.9 | 39.9 | 25.8 | <0.0001 |
Missing observations:
*n=6 (0.5%).
†n=1 (0.1%).