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"I do what I have to do to survive": An investigation into the perceptions, experiences and economic considerations of women engaged in sex work in Northern Namibia

BACKGROUND: There is little published research investigating sex work in Namibia, particularly in rural areas. Therefore, the aim of this paper was to determine the views of women engaged in sex work in the Oshakati area of Namibia concerning the main factors influencing their use, or non-use, of ma...

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Autores principales: Fitzgerald-Husek, Alanna, Martiniuk, Alexandra LC, Hinchcliff, Reece, Aochamus, Christine E, Lee, Richard B
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: BioMed Central 2011
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3163614/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21813006
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1472-6874-11-35
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author Fitzgerald-Husek, Alanna
Martiniuk, Alexandra LC
Hinchcliff, Reece
Aochamus, Christine E
Lee, Richard B
author_facet Fitzgerald-Husek, Alanna
Martiniuk, Alexandra LC
Hinchcliff, Reece
Aochamus, Christine E
Lee, Richard B
author_sort Fitzgerald-Husek, Alanna
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: There is little published research investigating sex work in Namibia, particularly in rural areas. Therefore, the aim of this paper was to determine the views of women engaged in sex work in the Oshakati area of Namibia concerning the main factors influencing their use, or non-use, of male condoms during transactional sexual exchanges. METHODS: Qualitative interviews were used to better understand the perceptions, experiences and economic considerations of female sex workers in Namibia who were involved in a Behavior Change Communication Program encouraging safer sex practices among high-risk populations in 2006 and 2007. RESULTS: While the Behavior Change Communication Program has made significant strides in educating and empowering young women to negotiate more consistent condom use with sexual partners, the gendered economic inequalities and power imbalances within rural and semi-urban Namibian society that favor men hinder further advancement towards positive behavioral change for HIV prevention and also hinder the development of the loving relationships sought by some sex workers. CONCLUSION: This study found that sex workers and transactional sex encounters are heterogeneous entities dependent upon the characteristics of the man (known, stranger, wealthy, attractive to the woman) and the woman (in financial need, desiring love). These features all influence condom use. The 3 E's 'education, empowerment and economic independence' are critical factors needed to encourage and facilitate consistent condom use to prevent HIV transmission. Without financial independence and occupational alternatives building on their health education and empowerment, women who engage in sex work-and transactional sex more generally-will remain largely marginalized from Namibian society, and will continue engaging in risky sexual practices that facilitate HIV acquisition and transmission throughout the community.
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spelling pubmed-31636142011-08-30 "I do what I have to do to survive": An investigation into the perceptions, experiences and economic considerations of women engaged in sex work in Northern Namibia Fitzgerald-Husek, Alanna Martiniuk, Alexandra LC Hinchcliff, Reece Aochamus, Christine E Lee, Richard B BMC Womens Health Research Article BACKGROUND: There is little published research investigating sex work in Namibia, particularly in rural areas. Therefore, the aim of this paper was to determine the views of women engaged in sex work in the Oshakati area of Namibia concerning the main factors influencing their use, or non-use, of male condoms during transactional sexual exchanges. METHODS: Qualitative interviews were used to better understand the perceptions, experiences and economic considerations of female sex workers in Namibia who were involved in a Behavior Change Communication Program encouraging safer sex practices among high-risk populations in 2006 and 2007. RESULTS: While the Behavior Change Communication Program has made significant strides in educating and empowering young women to negotiate more consistent condom use with sexual partners, the gendered economic inequalities and power imbalances within rural and semi-urban Namibian society that favor men hinder further advancement towards positive behavioral change for HIV prevention and also hinder the development of the loving relationships sought by some sex workers. CONCLUSION: This study found that sex workers and transactional sex encounters are heterogeneous entities dependent upon the characteristics of the man (known, stranger, wealthy, attractive to the woman) and the woman (in financial need, desiring love). These features all influence condom use. The 3 E's 'education, empowerment and economic independence' are critical factors needed to encourage and facilitate consistent condom use to prevent HIV transmission. Without financial independence and occupational alternatives building on their health education and empowerment, women who engage in sex work-and transactional sex more generally-will remain largely marginalized from Namibian society, and will continue engaging in risky sexual practices that facilitate HIV acquisition and transmission throughout the community. BioMed Central 2011-08-03 /pmc/articles/PMC3163614/ /pubmed/21813006 http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1472-6874-11-35 Text en Copyright ©2011 Fitzgerald-Husek et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Fitzgerald-Husek, Alanna
Martiniuk, Alexandra LC
Hinchcliff, Reece
Aochamus, Christine E
Lee, Richard B
"I do what I have to do to survive": An investigation into the perceptions, experiences and economic considerations of women engaged in sex work in Northern Namibia
title "I do what I have to do to survive": An investigation into the perceptions, experiences and economic considerations of women engaged in sex work in Northern Namibia
title_full "I do what I have to do to survive": An investigation into the perceptions, experiences and economic considerations of women engaged in sex work in Northern Namibia
title_fullStr "I do what I have to do to survive": An investigation into the perceptions, experiences and economic considerations of women engaged in sex work in Northern Namibia
title_full_unstemmed "I do what I have to do to survive": An investigation into the perceptions, experiences and economic considerations of women engaged in sex work in Northern Namibia
title_short "I do what I have to do to survive": An investigation into the perceptions, experiences and economic considerations of women engaged in sex work in Northern Namibia
title_sort "i do what i have to do to survive": an investigation into the perceptions, experiences and economic considerations of women engaged in sex work in northern namibia
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3163614/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21813006
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1472-6874-11-35
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