Objective:

To identify the strategies of consumption of psychoactive substances (PAS) in cisgender men and women and transgender Venezuelan immigrant women engaged in sex work in Colombia.

Methods:

A qualitative study was carried out with an interpretive hermeneutic approach, using the semi-structured interview as a research technique, which were applied in the Metropolitan Area of Valle de Aburrá, Bogotá, D.C. and the Colombian Coffee Region, through a convenience sampling system.

Results:

55 interviews were conducted in these regions. 60 % of the interviewees were cisgender men, 31 % cisgender women and 9 % transgender women. The average age of the participants was 27 years. It was observed that the use of psychoactive substances in sex workers depends on personal and contextual factors. The former is related to coping strategies against stress and anxiety during the exercise of sex work, as well as the recreational and recreational use of these substances, while the contextual strategies are linked to the shared use of SPA with clients and the increase of sexual performance during the exercise of transactional sex.

Conclusions:

The consumption of psychoactive substances during the exercise of sex work is multicausal, and, therefore, it is essential to address this issue in a comprehensive manner, considering the interrelation between the subject, the substance that is consumed and the social and sexual contexts where it is used, allowing defining the most pertinent and appropriate actions to reduce the impacts on the health of those involved.

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