Delivering trauma-informed outreach to women involved in street-based prostitution: enablers and barriers

The social work profession recognises the value of trauma-informed care for women with multiple disadvantage. For women involved in street-based prostitution this is mostly descriptive in nature with limited practice-based investigation. Guided by the principles of qualitative feminist research, this article explores the enablers and barriers in delivering trauma-informed outreach to women involved in street-based prostitution. Semi-structured interviews with six outreach workers and ten women involved in street-based prostitution indicated that a trauma-informed approach to outreach facilitated the building of mutually trusting and effective relationships. This was underpinned by a commitment to working at the women’s own pace and on their terms, which meant the outreach workers, in time, moved beyond addressing immediate needs. Despite the dynamic skillset required, the low status of outreach work presented challenges for securing a consistent and experienced workforce, which affected the sustainable delivery of trauma-informed outreach. This article highlights the complexity that is involved in delivering trauma-informed outreach to women involved in street-based prostitution and contributes to a more generalised conception of trauma-informed outreach work for shared learning and development within social work.