Women from the Luz quarter: an ethnography on the ways of using it and self-care health practices, at the use of crack. / Mulheres da Luz: uma etnografia dos usos e preservação no uso do "Crack"
AUTOR(ES)
Selma Lima da Silva
DATA DE PUBLICAÇÃO
2000
RESUMO
Objective: To get to know the relationships established between the practice of the so-called female low-prostitution and the use of crack in a place known as "Crack-land", in the Luz quarter, previously known as "the Garbage s Mouth", down-town São Paulo city, State of São Paulo, Brazil. Methodology: An ethnographical research was carried out along with women who attend regularly and/or engage themselves in sexual programs within this region, observing the relationships between prostitution practices and the use of crack. Results: The entering of the crack into this region causes conflicts among the female prostitutes who use the drug and those who do not, since the fees charged by the first ones for sexual programs are lower than those charged by the non-users. There is a greater exposition to health problems, in special to STD/AIDS, caused not only by the use of crack but also by the condition of extreme poverty they found themselves in and the beliefs on what they consider as being healthy. However, it was observed that the women who use crack avail themselves of some strategies concerning the control of the use of their own bodies and self-care health practices. Conclusion: It was observed that, more than addiction to a substance, the consumption of crack is an adhesion to a way of living within the streets circuit. The existence of some forms of self-care - although incipient - related to their health and their own bodies within this life-style was also noticed. In the face of these findings, it would be worth studying a more effective way of proceeding in order to improve the quality of life of these women by means of strategies that they themselves already develop, working within a perspective of reducing the health damages associated with the consumption of crack. Descriptors: female prostitution, use of crack, stigma, self-care, risk reduction.
ASSUNTO(S)
prostituição feminina auto-cuidados risk reduction female prostitution self-care uuse of crack stigma uso de crack estigmatização redução de danos
