ABSTRACT
It has been widely documented that street-based sex workers experience stigma and discrimination on a daily basis (Jiménez et al. 2011; Sallman 2011). Women who are street-based sex workers are labelled immoral women, drug users, and transmitters of disease, and are generally considered as unworthy members of society (Wolffers and van Beelan 2003; O'Neill et al. 2008). As a result, street-based sex workers often experience stigma and discrimination, affecting their social, physical and psychological wellbeing as well as intensifying feelings of social isolation (Vanwesenbeeck 2001; Pinkham and Malinowska-Sempruch 2008). Fear of experiencing stigma and discrimination also impedes women's access to community-based services and personal support networks, subsequently leading to feelings of immense social isolation and exclusion (Krieger 1999; Kurtz et al. 2005; Pinkham and Malinowska-Sempruch 2008; Strega et al. 2009).
