Philippine E-Journals

Problems Encountered By Prostituted Women in Cagayan De Oro City

Maureen May T. Herbas | Kim T. Luardo | Henzel Joy S. Ople | Leslei V. Paguilion | Ingrid E. Villanueva | Ma. Dolores D. Mercado

Discipline: Social Science, Sociology

 

Abstract:

The study aimed to determine the problems encountered by the prostituted women in Cagayan de Oro City, with emphasis on economic and sociological aspects. It focused on the three major points, namely: (1) What is the profile of the respondents in terms of age, educational attainment, type of services, length of experience, reasons for being a prostitute, place of origin, and religious affiliation? (2) What are the problems encountered by the respondents in terms of sexual, psychological, financial, social, health, and spiritual aspects? (3) Is there a significant difference in the problems encountered by the respondents when they are grouped according to age, educational attainment, type of services, length of experience, reasons for being a prostitute, place of origin, and religious affiliation? In answering these problems, the researchers used the descriptive research design to determine the significant relationship between the independent and dependent variables of the study.

The analyses yielded the following results: Most of the respondents belonged to the 21-23 age bracket. Of the 30 respondents most of them claimed that they were high school level. In terms of type of services, most of them were serving as exotic dancer. As regards length of experience, most of them responded 0-5 months. Ten of the respondents engaged in sex trading due to “poverty” and “support for the family,” as reported by the respondents. Some of them were from the Province of Misamis Oriental, and majority of the prostituted women claimed to be Roman Catholics.

On problems encountered by the respondents, the following findings were identified: The prostituted women reported they seldom encountered the problem on “men forcefully inserting their genital organs into our vaginas.” On the psychological problems, the respondents showed fear on the statement “It’s a shame in our family.” In terms of financial problems, the prostituted women claimed “unequal sharing between pimp and me.” The respondents had an anxiety on the statement “ashamed to mingle with other people.” The prostituted women always used contraceptives, condoms, and other devices. They claimed that their spiritual life was no longer active.

It can be said that prostituted women never encountered serious problems as presented in the following ratings: The respondents never encountered serious problems in regard to the sexual aspects. They sometimes encountered psychological and health problems, but seldom did they experience financial, social, and spiritual problems. It was found out that there was no significant difference in the problems encountered by the prostituted women when they were grouped according to age, educational attainment, type of services, length of experience, reasons for being a prostitute, place of origin, and religious affiliation.