INTRODUCTION

Female Sex Workers in the Philippines experience discrimination in their lives.

Prostitution in the Philippines is not accepted. Penalties range up to life imprisonment for those
involved in trafficking, which is covered by the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003. In the
country, selling sex is illegal, therefore legality presents a unique challenge to conducting
research on this population. However, there has been remarkable amount of sex institutions
which promote prostitution and sex work.
In the global aspect, this type of subject is not new to researchers. Due to a lot of
factors such as unemployment, educational attainment, practicality, and pleasure, researchers
around the world want to dive in and unravel the industry. A study named “Sex Worker and
Proud: A Phenomenological Study of Consensual Sex Workers' Lives” written by Michael
Gerald Curtis is all about ten consensual sex workers who were currently working in Nevada
that were qualitatively interviewed in an effort to explore their perceptions of the adult industry.
Interviews specifically focused on their experience disclosing their profession to others and the
potential effects that it has on their personal relationships, and access to effective treatment.
The study revealed that in a life of a sex worker, they rejected the absolute victim narrative that
is commonly reflected in media, film, and government sanctioned actions surrounding the adult
industry. The workers do not earn by pity but earn by skill.
A nearer study in Luzon by Jezki Duria named “Being Left Behind: Phenomenological
Experience and Narratives of Sex Workers in Rural Philippines Amidst COVID-19 Pandemic”
discusses the inequality of sex workers on having rights towards themselves. This includes sex
workers who were often discriminated and stigmatized because the topic of "sex" remains
taboo in our country. It was soon discovered that the primal reason for doing it is because of
economic necessity. Because sex work pays more than many office jobs or other service work
averaging 500 dollars up to 2,000 dollars a month. Moreover, this study showed how sex work
was reconfigured and the resilience of women due to the pandemic.
Moreover, there is a local study about sex workers focused mainly on Davao City. The
study is named “Exploring the Lives of Prostituted Women in Davao City”. The study then
discovered that due to the negative stigma that sex workers receive, the idea that someone
might willingly choose to become a sex worker may be baffling to most people. In addition to
that, people who become sex workers are actually driven by motivation much like every other
aspect in life. Whatever the reason is, it may be financial dissatisfaction, the need to pay for
one’s tuitions, and etc. sex work offers flexibility with pleasure and good pay-outs.
The researchers believe that the paper’s research gap is how there is a lack of study
about the field of sex work and that there is an underlying confusion in the topic. This leads to
stereotypes and stigma due to the lack of knowledge and information. The researchers want to
add studies that talk about the sex industry because it is something that needs more
information. Researchers tend to avoid these sensitive topics due to the country being a very
conservative one. The researchers believe that researches like these are able to attain
inclusivity and diversity, as well as acceptance to have a peaceful society for all.
 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES

The purpose of this study is to look into the experiences of Social Studies teachers in
utilizing computer-aided technology in the classroom. It specifically aims to:
1. To Identify the problems faced by Female Sex Workers in Davao City
2. To pin down the coping mechanisms of Female Sex Workers in Davao City
3. To describe the coping mechanisms of Female Sex Workers in Davao City

EXPECTED OUTPUTS OF THE STUDY

The study will develop valid and reliable scales to identify and recognize the lived
experiences of Female Sex Workers (FSW) in Davao City. The study will provide, in the
Philippine context, evidence that will underpin better selection and environmental
consciousness in sex workers, leading ultimately to a prepares, and inclusive, and
professionally behaved community

SCOPE AND DELIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

The scope of the study is for identifying the lived experiences of Female Sex Worekers
(FSW) in Davao City dealing with stigma, stereotypes, and other external conflicts.

The study is delimited only for the Female Sex Workers and does not shed light on Male
Sex Workers. As well as it is delimited only in the workers in Davao City. The main purpose of
the study is to recognize and see the different experiences of Female Sex Workers and see
through the lens of a marginalized and oppressed being. This study mainly focuses on the
different problems faced and its relation to the livelihood. However, the study excludes the
main reasons why the sex workers chose their desired path.
 REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
Services of a sexual nature that are traded for anything of value are known as "sex
work" (Harcourt & Donovan, 2005; Dalla, 2001; Vanwesenbeecck, 2001). Direct and indirect
sex employment are divided into two primary groups by researchers (Harcourt & Donovan,
2005). The manner in which the services transaction was initiated, negotiated, and carried out
makes a distinction between these groups (Harcourt & Donovan, 2005).

The term "direct sex work" relates to the conventional meaning of prostitution, which
involves providing sexual services in exchange for a fixed payment (Casas, 2010). Escort
services, prostitution on the streets, and the use of call boys and girls are a few examples of
direct sex employment (Harcourt & Donovan, 2005).

Three different sexual services are referred to as indirect sex work. The first category
consists of services that are spontaneous, opportunistic in character, and frequently entail a
previous non-sexual transaction. As an illustration, "sugar babies" typically have a major
sponsor who goes by the names of a "sugar daddy" or "sugar mommy"; these people are
typically older and offer financial assistance in exchange for adult services (Roche, Neaigus,
and Miller, 2005). as compared to sugar infants. Although the pair is less likely to engage in
safe sex, this relationship helps lower the likelihood of unwanted sexual encounters since it
enables sex workers to support themselves with fewer sex partners (Roche, Neaigus, and
Miller, 2005). 2005 (Harcourt & Donovan).

The second category consists of services, such as massages, where sex is supplied as
a side benefit to the core service (Harcourt & Donovan, 2005). In other words, the massage is
paid for by the client, not the sex, yet the two things happen together as part of the main
service. Becoming a pornographic actor or actress is an example of the third category of
indirect sex employment, which entails interactions with little to no genital or physical touch
(Harcourt & Donovan, 2005).

The conceptualization of stigma and the extensive literature on the stigma of sex
workers suggested that FSWs may experience multiple levels of stigma, namely social stigma,
structural stigma, and self-stigma. Social stigma is the attitudes and beliefs that the general
public hold toward the stigmatized population. Structural stigma refers to the ways institutions
legitimize and perpetuate stigma. For example, health care providers’ stereotypes about FSWs
may result in refusal of treatment, sub-optimal care, humiliation, breach of confidentiality and
privacy, and other forms of discrimination.
 Self-stigma refers, at the individual level, to the stigmatized members' potential to feel,
predict, and absorb both social and structural stigma. The phrase "experienced stigma" refers
to genuine instances of prejudice and discrimination that a member of the stigmatized group
has had to deal with. The phrase "expected stigma" describes the belief that if a member of the
stigmatized group's illness is made public, they may also feel stigma. When members of a
stigmatized group accept and absorb the unfavorable sentiments of society, internalized
stigma develops. FSWs may be prepared for or encounter hostility or rejection in the medical
setting and in the community. Those with self-stigma could have poor self-esteem and put off
getting treatment. Those who suffer from self-stigma may have low self-esteem and avoid
seeking help. To avoid stigma and discrimination in the health care setting, FSWs are more
likely than the general population to hide private information and to set boundaries with health
care providers when they need to disclose their occupation.’

Early study on the adult business, which began in the 1970s, concentrated on the issue
of prostitution and seeking justifications for the criminal and abnormal personalities prostitutes
were considered to have at the time (James & Meyerding, 1977). The focus of sex work study
shifted in the 1980s and early 1990s from attempting to solve the issue to attempting to
comprehend roots of the sex industry's appeal to young adults in particular (Vanwesenbeeck,
2001a). By historically connecting prostitution to physical and sexual abuse, dysfunctional
families, parental substance misuse, sexual precocity, and frequent victimization, this research
provided as the foundation for the present knowledge of the profession (Brannigan & Van
Brunschot, 1997).

The late 1980s HIV epidemic had significant effects on the sex business, which were
documented in the literature of the period (Darrow, Boles, & Cohen, 1991; Elifson, Boles &
Sweat, 1993; Gattari, Spizzichino, Valenzi, & Zaccarelli, 1992; Lurie, Eugenia, Fernandes,
Hughes). Since then, a significant portion of the study of sex work has been influenced by
workplace risks such increased HIV risk (Surratt, 2007; Goldenbeg et al., 2014; Goldenberg et
al., 2012; Reeves and coworkers, 2017).

The majority of the time, these studies claim that sex workers had substantially higher
rates of Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs) without taking into account several sexual
partners who could have wanted unprotected intercourse, rates of HIV exposure (Shannon et
al, 2015). Moreover, studies with female sex workers showed that, in contrast to their
professional activities, women were most at risk for obtaining HIV while engaging in
unprotected noncommercial sexual activity (Albert, Warner, & Hatcher, 1998). Since they used
condoms less strictly in their personal relationships, their findings showed that female sex
workers were more likely to get HIV during their own personal sexual encounters than during
ones that were related to their jobs (Albert et al., 1998).
 The adult business has changed as technology has grown, and adjusted to satisfy its
consumers' needs. In order to build an online adult market where sex workers may have
greater control over the clients they see or the material they produce, a new set of professions
have evolved and thrived (Jones, 2015). Internet sex work is the technology-based commercial
sale of sexual services (Jones, 2015). Often, this is utilizing the Internet to request sexual
services that are subsequently physically provided offline or sexual acts that are exclusively
visual and aural through an electronic device (Jones, 2015). This media has little entrance
hurdles for sex workers, and anonymity is simple to get (Hertlein & Piercy, 2005). Also, there is
little chance of physical danger or injury to sex workers who are serving numerous customers
at once. calatoriTotusiUneori LetzteUneori Only Later Indi taiearcinia TheirMulteMulte Obst
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sampling (Jones, 2016). As an alternative, clients can engage a sex worker in real time without
worrying about legal repercussions (Jones, 2016)

Each sort of sex work has advantages and difficulties for the workplace, and rivalry
amongst employees to succeed in one of the more desirable types of job is common. Because
of this, the adult sector has developed its own implicit hierarchy that takes into account a
variety of aspects, such as physical danger, closeness to customers, and cash gained
(McNeill, 2012).

There is an unstated hierarchy within the adult sector that is frequently determined by
the money made, the level of safety, and the way services are advertised and solicited
(Harcourt & Donovan, 2005; see Table 1). The so-called "whorearchy" has permeable
boundaries, and professionals frequently move between tiers depending on the quantity of
customers served, the amount of money made, and the risk to which they are exposed
(Harcourt & Donovan, 2005; McNeill, 2012).

In addition to being required by employers to undergo STI testing, they often have less
direct contact with customers and fewer frequent clients, which reduces their overall risk of
catching STIs, HIV, or other sexually transmitted infections (Dalla, 2001; Ngo et al., 2007).
Pornographic actors/actresses and erotic performers are at the top of the hierarchy since their
employers frequently require STD testing, which reduces their risk of acquiring or
disseminating HIV or STIs (Brawn & Roe-Sepowitz, 2008). Also, they are required to provide
identification proving their age, which reduces the possibility of performers being victims of
human trafficking (Brawn & Roe-Sepowitz, 2008).

Because this employment is profitable and safer than other types of sex work, sex
workers in individual arrangements are at the top of the hierarchy of sex workers (Dalla, 2001;
Ngo et al., 2007).
 The danger is higher and the pay is lower for escorts and call girls/boys who give sexual
services to a regular clientele in another industry (Dalla, 2001; Ngo et al., 2007). In order to
enhance the overall safety of the sex worker, they often meet with customers who have been
checked and perform acts within a hotel room or another place of their choosing (Ngo et al.,
2007). Workers at bars, brothels, and massage parlors are placed lower in the hierarchy since
they serve more customers and make the same amount of money as those in layers above
(Ngo et al., 2007).

Due to the physical danger, unpredictable nature, and high stigma associated with
street employment, it is said to be the least attractive kind of sex work (Roche et al., 2005).
Due to the anonymity and privacy of the customers, which are inherent to street job, street
workers face the greatest risk (Ngo et al., 2007). Also, customers are not checked and street
employment is uncontrolled (Oselin & Blasyak, 2013).

Even while the amount of studies on rape culture and sexual assault has increased,
there is still little on sexual consent in the adult business (Beres, 2007; Jozkowski, 2015).
According to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (2016), sexual consent is the express
agreement between research participants to participate in sexual behavior. Nevertheless,
consent may be withdrawn at any moment with the understanding that granting agreement for
a single engagement does not imply approval for more frequent or continuing sexual contact
(Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network, 2016)

These issues take on essential importance since clients could struggle with the
difficulties they encounter while working in the sector and the obstacles they might encounter if
they choose to leave the industry (Murphy & Venkatesh, 2006). It is crucial for therapists to be
conscious of their own viewpoints while dealing with clients in the adult market since clients
may divulge thoughts and feelings. ideas that are in opposition to the perspectives of the
dominant culture (Anklesaria & Gentile, 2012).

Clients may be less reluctant to reveal in the future and seek out services and social
support if they are met with unfavorable or unsupportive responses (Lievore, 2005).