Human rights abuses and collective resilience among sex workers in four African countries: a qualitative study
Authors & affiliation
Fiona Scorgie, Katie Vasey, Eric Harper, Marlise Richter, Prince Nare, Sian Maseko, Matthew Chersich
Abstract
Background: Sex work is a criminal offence, virtually throughout Africa. This criminalisation and the intense stigma attached to the profession shapes interactions between sex workers and their clients, family, fellow community members, and societal structures such as the police and social services. Methods: We explore the impact of violence and related human rights abuses on the lives of sex workers, and how they have responded to these conditions, as individuals and within small collectives. These analyses are based on data from 55 in-depth interviews and 12 focus group discussions with female, male and transgender sex workers in Kenya, South Africa, Uganda and Zimbabwe. Data were collected by sex worker outreach workers trained to conduct qualitative research among their peers. Results: In describing their experiences of unlawful arrests and detention, violence, extortion, vilification and exclusions, participants present a picture of profound exploitation and repeated human rights violations. This situation has had an extreme impact on the physical, mental and social wellbeing of this population. Overall, the article details the multiple effects of sex work criminalisation on the everyday lives of sex workers and on their social interactions and relationships. Underlying their stories, however, are narratives of resilience and resistance. Sex workers in our study draw on their own individual survival strategies and informal forms of support and very occasionally opt to seek recourse through formal channels. They generally recognize the benefits of unified actions in assisting them to counter risks in their environment and mobilise against human rights violations, but note how the fluctuant and stigmatised nature of their profession often undermines collective action. Conclusions: While criminal laws urgently need reform, supporting sex work self-organisation and community-building are key interim strategies for safeguarding sex workers’ human rights and improving health outcomes in these communities. If developed at sufficient scale and intensity, sex work organisations could play a critical role in reducing the present harms caused by criminalisation and stigma.
Publication date:
2013
Staff members:
Link to publication
Attachments
Human_rights_abuses_and_collective_resilience.pdf (open)Related publications
Yves Lafort, Diederike Geelhoed, Luis Cumba, Carla Das Dores Mosse Lázaro, Wim Delva, Stanley Lüchters, Marleen Temmerman
2022 Engaging women and men in the gender-synchronised, community-based Mbereko plus Men intervention to improve maternal mental health and perinatal care-seeking in Manicaland, Zimbabwe : a cluster-randomised controlled pragmatic trialElizabeth Comrie-Thomson, Karen Webb, Diana Patel, Precious Wata, Zivanai Kapamurandu, Angela Mushavi, Mary-Ann Nicholas, Paul A. Agius, Jessica Davis, Stanley Lüchters
2013 Intimate partner violence during pregnancy in Zimbabwe: a cross-sectional study of prevalence, predictors and associations with HIVSimukai Shamu, Naeema Abrahams, Christina Zarowsky, Tamara Shefer, Marleen Temmerman