The current research analyzed the health perceptions and practices among bar prostitutes in the city of Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul. For this reason, those women's health practices and care and how they related to health services were investigated through techniques of participant observation and semi-structured interviews. Among women, in the surveyed context, it was identified the "care network" as a health care strategy, which is triggered in different situations, as the ones that involve daily work. It is concluded that the established nets exceed the individual level of care, configuring health knowledge production, articulating decisively in response to vulnerabilities, socializing practices and circumventing difficulties.
female prostitution; vulnerabilities; care network