Browsing by Subject "Sex workers"

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    "A Baby Was an Added Burden": Predictors and consequences of unintended pregnancies for female sex workers in Mombasa, Kenya: a mixed-methods study
    (Public Library of Science, 2016) Luchters, Stanley; Bosire, Wilkister; Feng, Amy; Richter, Marlise L; King'ola, Nzioki; Ampt, Frances; Temmerman, Marleen; Chersich, Matthew F
    Introduction Female sex workers (FSW) have high rates of unintended pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections including HIV, and other adverse sexual and reproductive health outcomes. Few services for FSWs include contraception. This mixed-methods study aimed to determine the rate, predictors and consequences of unintended pregnancy among FSWs in Mombasa, Kenya. METHODS: A prospective cohort study of non-pregnant FSWs was conducted. Quantitative data were collected quarterly, including a structured questionnaire and testing for pregnancy and HIV. Predictors of unintended pregnancy were investigated using multivariate logistic regression. Qualitative data were gathered through focus group discussions and in-depth interviews with FSWs who became pregnant during the study, and interviews with five key informants. These data were transcribed, translated and analysed thematically. RESULTS: Four hundred women were enrolled, with 92% remaining in the cohort after one year. Fifty-seven percent reported using a modern contraceptive method (including condoms when used consistently). Over one-third (36%) of women were using condoms inconsistently without another method. Twenty-four percent had an unintended pregnancy during the study. Younger age, having an emotional partner and using traditional or no contraception, or condoms only, were independent predictors of unintended pregnancy. Women attributed pregnancy to forgetting to use contraception and being pressured not to by clients and emotional partners, as well as "bad luck". They described numerous negative consequences of unintended pregnancy. CONCLUSION: Modern contraceptive uptake is surprisingly low in this at-risk population, which in turn has a high rate of unintended pregnancy. The latter may result in financial hardship, social stigma, risk of abandonment, or dangerous abortion practices. FSWs face considerable barriers to the adoption of dual method contraceptive use, including low levels of control in their emotional and commercial relationships. Reproductive health services need to be incorporated into programs for sexually transmitted infections and HIV, which address the socially-determined barriers to contraceptive use.
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    Open Access
    Drafting sex workers' human rights: using decriminalisation to combat gender-based violence faced by sex workers
    (2025) Singh, Kiasha; Lutchman, Salona
    Rates of gender-based violence (“GBV”) are rapidly growing in South Africa, which has come to be known as the “rape capital” of the world. 1 This violence is indiscriminately perpetrated against women across the country, including sex workers who are often victim of heinous acts of GBV due to their limited protection under the law and stigmatised role in society. The legal responses to sex work, namely legalisation, criminalisation, or decriminalisation, have become an increasingly discussed topic across the world due to a heightened understanding of the complex challenges sex workers face. While it is currently illegal to buy or sell sex in South Africa, if the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Bill 2022 (“the Bill”) is passed, South Africa will become only the third country in the world to fully decriminalise sex work. The draft Bill proposes the removal of the criminalisation of buying and selling of sex and the clearing of criminal records of those who have been prosecuted for buying or selling sex. This dissertation is therefore, aimed at critically analysing how decriminalising sex work in South Africa by way of enacting the draft Bill can aid in reducing sex workers' vulnerability to experiencing GBV, specifically by affording greater protection to sex workers and eradicating the dangerous stigma around sex work. This dissertation therefore undertakes to investigate how the criminalisation of sex work disproportionately affects sex workers by exposing them to rampant levels of abuse, sexual violence and police brutality, under the umbrella of GBV. Therefore, it further aims to establish how the criminalisation of sex work correlates directly with the violation of numerous sex workers' human rights. In considering how effective South Africa's current legal response to sex work is, it is pertinent to analyse our international and domestic obligations to protect women against violence and violations of their human rights, specifically identifying the position of sex workers amongst these protective forces. In bolstering attempts to protect the rights of sex workers and give effect to the intentions of the Bill of Rights and South Africa's international obligations, the findings of this dissertation ultimately reveal why it is of the utmost importance that government decriminalise sex work and enact the Bill without undue delay. Further recommendations will be provided to work in conjunction with the draft Bill to assist the safety of sex workers in South Africa.