scholarly journals Mobility for sex work and recent experiences of gender-based violence among female sex workers in Iringa, Tanzania: A longitudinal analysis

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (6) ◽  
pp. e0252728
Author(s):  
Zoé Mistrale Hendrickson ◽  
Anna M. Leddy ◽  
Noya Galai ◽  
S. Wilson Beckham ◽  
Wendy Davis ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Violence ◽  
Sex Work ◽  
Sex Workers ◽  
Female Sex Workers ◽  
Community Empowerment ◽  
Recent Experience ◽  
Gender Based Violence ◽  
Female Sex ◽  
Gender Based

Female sex workers are highly mobile, which may influence their risk of experiencing physical and sexual violence. However, there remains a paucity of research, particularly longitudinal, from Sub-Saharan Africa exploring mobility and gender-based violence among female sex workers. To address this gap, this study examined the longitudinal relationship between work-related mobility and recent experience of physical or sexual gender-based violence from a client or partner among female sex workers in Iringa, Tanzania. A secondary data analysis was conducted using baseline and 18-month follow-up data from Project Shikamana, a community empowerment-based combination HIV prevention intervention. Responses from 387 female sex workers aged 18 years and older participating in both baseline and follow-up were analyzed. Unadjusted and adjusted Poisson regression models with robust variance estimations, accounting for clustering of female sex workers’ responses over time, were fit. Final models adjusted for socio-demographic characteristics and aspects of participants’ living situations and work environments. Recent physical or sexual violence from a client or partner was common (baseline: 40%; follow-up: 29%). Twenty-six percent of female sex workers at baseline, and 11% at follow-up, had recently traveled outside of Iringa for sex work. In the final adjusted longitudinal model, female sex workers recently mobile for sex work had a 25% increased risk of any recent experience of physical or sexual gender-based violence when compared with their non-mobile counterparts (adjusted incidence rate ratio: 1.25; 95% CI: 1.03–1.53; p<0.05). Interventions must identify ways–such as mobile support services, linkages and referrals to health and other social services while traveling, or the use of mobile or digital technology–to address mobile female sex workers’ unique needs while traveling. Future quantitative and qualitative research is needed to understand the context of female sex workers’ mobility and how and why mobility influences risk environments and experiences of gender-based violence.

scholarly journals Work-related mobility and experiences of gender-based violence among female sex workers in Iringa, Tanzania: a cross-sectional analysis of baseline data from Project Shikamana

BMJ Open ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (9) ◽  
pp. e022621 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zoé Mistrale Hendrickson ◽  
Anna M Leddy ◽  
Noya Galai ◽  
Jessie K Mbwambo ◽  
Samuel Likindikoki ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Relative Risk ◽  
Sexual Violence ◽  
Sex Work ◽  
Sex Workers ◽  
Female Sex Workers ◽  
Recent Experience ◽  
Gender Based Violence ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Work Related ◽  
Gender Based

ObjectivesTo examine how work-related mobility among female sex workers (FSWs) is associated with gender-based violence (GBV) in Iringa, Tanzania.DesignCross-sectional analyses were conducted on baseline data gathered between October 2015 and April 2016 from FSWs participating in Project Shikamana, a community empowerment-based combination HIV prevention intervention.SettingParticipants were recruited for the baseline study using venue-based time-location sampling in two communities in Iringa, Tanzania.ParticipantsFSWs were eligible for participation if they were 18 years or older and had exchanged sex for money within the past month. Four-hundred ninety-six FSWs participated in the baseline survey.Primary and secondary outcome measuresAny recent experience of GBV was examined by recent work-related mobility among FSWs. Any recent experience of GBV was also disaggregated by severity for analyses. All bivariate and multivariate binary and multinomial logistic regressions adjusted for intraclass correlations among women recruited from the same venues.ResultsForty per cent of participants experienced recent physical or sexual violence, and 30% recently experienced severe physical or sexual violence. Thirty-three per cent of participants recently exchanged sex for money outside of their district or region, and 12% were both intraregionally and inter-regionally mobile for sex work. Intraregionally and inter-regionally mobile FSWs had 1.9 times greater odds of reporting recent GBV (adjusted OR: 1.89; 95% CI: 1.06 to 3.38; p=0.031) compared with non-mobile FSWs and a 2.5 times higher relative risk for recent experience of severe GBV relative to no recent GBV (relative risk ratio: 2.51; 95% CI: 1.33 to 4.74; p=0.005).ConclusionsMobility for sex work may increase FSWs’ exposure to GBV, particularly more severe GBV. The vulnerability of mobile FSWs to violence, particularly severe forms, demands inclusive services that are accessible to mobile FSWs.

Gender Based Violence as a Risk Factor for HIV-Associated Risk Behaviors Among Female Sex Workers in Armenia

2012 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 551-558 ◽  
Author(s):  
Delia L. Lang ◽  
Laura F. Salazar ◽  
Ralph J. DiClemente ◽  
Karine Markosyan
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factor ◽  
Risk Behaviors ◽  
Sex Workers ◽  
Female Sex Workers ◽  
Gender Based Violence ◽  
Female Sex ◽  
Gender Based

scholarly journals Prevalence and structural correlates of gender based violence among a prospective cohort of female sex workers

BMJ ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 339 (aug11 3) ◽  
pp. b2939-b2939 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Shannon ◽  
T Kerr ◽  
S A Strathdee ◽  
J Shoveller ◽  
J S Montaner ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sex Workers ◽  
Prospective Cohort ◽  
Female Sex Workers ◽  
Gender Based Violence ◽  
Female Sex ◽  
Gender Based

Co-occurring Threats to Agency Among Female Sex Workers in Baltimore, Maryland

2020 ◽  
pp. 088626052097818
Author(s):  
Danielle F. Nestadt ◽  
Catherine Tomko ◽  
Kristin E. Schneider ◽  
Deanna Kerrigan ◽  
Michele R. Decker ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Drug Use ◽  
Sex Work ◽  
Sex Workers ◽  
Female Sex Workers ◽  
Latent Class ◽  
Community Empowerment ◽  
Sense Of Agency ◽  
Structural Factors ◽  
Unequal Distribution ◽  
Female Sex

Driven largely by the unequal distribution of power, female sex workers (FSW) globally bear a disproportionately high burden of HIV, sexually transmitted infections, and interpersonal violence. Prior literature has identified a number of multi-level factors that may serve to constrain FSWs’ agency, or their ability to define and take action to realize goals. Among these are work-based violence and substance use, which are potentiated by the criminalization of sex work and structural vulnerability. Quantitative research related to U.S.-based FSWs’ own sense of agency, as well as the barriers that may impede it, is sparse. We sought to identify patterns of various threats to agency and explore to what extent they were associated with perceived agency among a cohort of 381 FSW in Baltimore, Maryland, United States, using latent class analysis. Latent class indictors were past-six-month experience of client-perpetrated sexual violence, client-perpetrated physical violence, homelessness, food insecurity, arrest, daily crack-cocaine use, and daily heroin use. Perceived agency was measured using the short form of the Pearlin Mastery Scale. We identified three typologies of threatened agency among women in our sample: a “threatened by structural factors, drug use, and violence” class, a “threatened by structural factors and drug use” class, and a “less threatened” class. Mean perceived agency score was significantly lower for the class characterized by client-perpetrated violence than for either of the other classes. This suggests violence, in the context of deeper, structural power imbalances embedded in hunger, homelessness, and drug use, may dramatically reduce one’s sense of agency and operate as a critical barrier to empowerment. Our study adds important insights to the broader FSW community empowerment literature and supports the need for interventions to bolster both individual and collective agency among U.S.-based FSW, including interventions to prevent sex work-related violence.

scholarly journals Client-perpetrated gender-based violence among female sex workers in conflict-affected Northern Uganda: a cross-sectional study

BMJ Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. e046894
Author(s):  
Simple Ouma ◽  
Rawlance Ndejjo ◽  
Catherine Abbo ◽  
Nazarius M Tumwesigye
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Sex Workers ◽  
Female Sex Workers ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Hiv Positive ◽  
Northern Uganda ◽  
Gender Based Violence ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Female Sex ◽  
Gender Based

Study objectiveTo determine the prevalence and associated factors of client-perpetrated gender-based violence among female sex workers in conflict-affected Northern Uganda.Design and settingsWe conducted a cross-sectional study among female sex workers in Gulu district in conflict-affected Northern Uganda.ParticipantsThe study participants included 300 female sex workers aged 18+ years. The participants were selected using simple random sampling from a database of female sex workers maintained at a national non-governmental organisation in Gulu.Outcome measureThe outcome measure was self-reported exposure to client-perpetrated gender-based violence.MethodsWe used a pretested semistructured questionnaire to collect data on sociodemographic characteristics, sex work-related characteristics, alcohol use, illicit drug use, HIV status and self-reported exposure to client-perpetrated gender-based violence. Then, data were entered into Epi Info V.7 and analysed using Stata V.14.0.ResultsAmong participants, 61.0% reported client-perpetrated gender-based violence. Economic (58.7%) and emotional (52.0%) violence were the most common forms of client-perpetrated gender-based violence in this population. Independently, being: street-based (adjusted OR=9.66, 95% CI 2.78 to 33.5), mobile (adjusted OR=3.21, 95% CI 1.83 to 5.64), HIV-positive (adjusted OR=1.90, 95% CI 1.09 to 3.31) and a low-income earner (<USh200 000 monthly) (adjusted OR=2.26, 95% CI 1.18 to 4.30) were positively associated with exposure to client-perpetrated gender-based violence.ConclusionsThere is a high prevalence of client-perpetrated gender-based violence among female sex workers in conflict-affected Northern Uganda. Furthermore, female sex workers who were street-based, mobile, HIV-positive and low-income earners were more likely to experience client-perpetrated gender-based violence. The ministry of health and the development partners need to provide targeted public health interventions to prevent and manage the rampant gender-based violence among this underserved population.

scholarly journals Adapting the Risk Environment Framework to Understand Substance Use, Gender-Based Violence, and HIV Risk Behaviors Among Female Sex Workers in Tanzania

2018 ◽  
Vol 22 (10) ◽  
pp. 3296-3306 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna M. Leddy ◽  
Carol Underwood ◽  
Michele R. Decker ◽  
Jessie Mbwambo ◽  
Samuel Likindikoki ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Substance Use ◽  
Risk Behaviors ◽  
Hiv Risk ◽  
Sex Workers ◽  
Female Sex Workers ◽  
Hiv Risk Behaviors ◽  
Gender Based Violence ◽  
Risk Environment ◽  
Female Sex ◽  
Gender Based

scholarly journals Prevalence of Rape and Client-Initiated Gender-Based Violence Among Female Sex Workers: Kampala, Uganda, 2012

2014 ◽  
Vol 19 (S1) ◽  
pp. 68-76 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amee Schwitters ◽  
Mahesh Swaminathan ◽  
David Serwadda ◽  
Michael Muyonga ◽  
Ray W. Shiraishi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sex Workers ◽  
Female Sex Workers ◽  
Gender Based Violence ◽  
Female Sex ◽  
Gender Based

Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes and Sexual Violence Among Female Sex Workers Who Inject Drugs on the United States–Mexico Border

2013 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 496-512 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lotus McDougal ◽  
Steffanie A. Strathdee ◽  
Gudelia Rangel ◽  
Gustavo Martinez ◽  
Alicia Vera ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Violence ◽  
Sex Workers ◽  
Female Sex Workers ◽  
Physical Violence ◽  
The United States ◽  
Gender Based Violence ◽  
Hiv Intervention ◽  
Female Sex ◽  
Male Clients ◽  
History Of

This study examines the prevalence of miscarriage/stillbirth among female sex workers who inject drugs (FSW-IDUs) and measures its associations with physical and sexual violence. Baseline data from 582 FSW-IDUs enrolled in an HIV intervention study in Tijuana and Ciudad Juárez, Mexico were used for current analyses. 30% of participants had experienced at least one miscarriage/stillbirth, 51% had experienced sexual violence, and 49% had experienced physical violence. History of miscarriage/stillbirth was associated with sexual violence (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 1.7, p = .02) but not physical violence. Additional reproductive risks associated with miscarriage/stillbirth included high numbers of male clients in the previous month (aOR = 1.1 per 30 clients, p = 0.04), history of abortion (aOR = 3.7, p < .001), and higher number of pregnancies (aOR = 1.4 per additional pregnancy, p < .001). Programs and research with this population should integrate reproductive health and consider gender-based violence.

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