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Sydney (dpa) - Prostitutes that work Sydney streets have a harder time of it than combat troops or frontline police, Australian researchers said Thursday.
One in three display the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder - flashbacks, nightmares, anxiety attacks, depression - compared with one in 12 combat veterans and police officers, University of New South Wales researcher Amanda Roxburgh said.
The government-funded survey found that just under one-half had tried to kill themselves and 80 per cent were heroin addicts. Around three-quarters had been threatened with a weapon, and another three-quarters of the women said they had been sexually abused as children, while 80 per cent had been assaulted in adulthood.
"These women have experienced multiple traumas, not just one traumatic incident," Roxburgh told national broadcaster ABC. "And they are at an ongoing risk of exposure to further trauma through work-related violence."
She said turning to drugs to blot out the present might be their way of dealing with past horrors.
"Drug abuse also comes into play when people have experienced trauma," Roxburgh said. "It's a way for them to try and avoid the constant intrusive memories they might have of their trauma."
Around half were addicted to drugs before they entered the sex trade, she said.
Copyright 2006 dpa Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH
