‘Business can't stop.’ Women engaged in prostitution during the COVID-19 pandemic in southern Spain: A qualitative study()

A detailed analysis was made of the experience of women engaged in prostitution during the state of emergency due to the COVID-19 virus through a phenomenological study. Eleven telephone interviews were conducted with women engaged in prostitution. It was found that confinement had increased the vulnerability of these women. Business has not stopped and they continue to work fearful of being infected and with increased abuse from the ‘clients’. Economic necessity and pressures from the organisations that exploit them are the main reasons for engaging in prostitution during the pandemic.