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No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms. Worldwide, sex workers face stigmatization and discrimination, also within healthcare. This study assessed attitudes and knowledge of healthcare providers in Germany towards sex workers and their specific health risks.
German healthcare professionals and medical students were invited to participate in a nationwide cross-sectional study in A total of questionnaires were included into analysis. A comparison to a recent Allensbach survey demonstrated similar attitudes of healthcare providers and the general population towards sex workers.
Our results suggest that German healthcare professionals are not free of prejudices against sex workers, as has been shown for other marginalized groups in society. Instead, they seem to be influenced by personal opinion rather than by objective facts which they should have acquired during their professional education. Future interventions e. Keywords: attitude, health care sector, health personnel, Germany, sex work, sex worker, social stigma. Attitudes towards sex work have always been controversial and are rather negative ranging from condemnation over tacit acceptance to compelling need.
However, prejudice against sex workers predominates in most societies and often leads to discrimination and other human rights violations 2. It is likely that these circumstances also aggravate healthcare inequalities since utilization of healthcare services particularly depends on socio-economic aspects 3. Indeed, reduced utilization of healthcare has been shown for sex workers 4 , 5.
