Vulnerability, resilience and political awareness: migrant female sex workers’ discourses on COVID-19 in Portugal

COVID-19 greatly affected vulnerable groups such as migrants and sex workers. This study explored the impact of COVID-19 on migrant sex workers in a Portuguese setting, focusing on understanding their experiences and the solutions they have found to cope with the pandemic. Using a qualitative approach, we conducted in-depth semi-structured individual interviews with 27 cisgender female migrant sex workers, aged between 24 and 60 years, working in Portugal during the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants were recruited from the Northern Regional Health Administration's <i>Autoestima</i> Programme. The interviews addressed topics related to the perceived risks associated with COVID-19 and the solutions developed to address them. Data were analysed using thematic analysis. The results evidenced multiple layers of vulnerabilities experienced by sex workers, including economic hardships, physical and mental health risks, safety and client-related risks, as well as the lack of response by the Portuguese state. Despite these vulnerabilities, sex workers demonstrated resilience and created ways of coping with the pandemic. COVID-19 heightened sex workers' awareness of their vulnerabilities, occupational health risks, and lack of protection, which increased their political consciousness and led to calls for the legalisation of sex work as a way to address precarity and stigma.