If you have children, you have responsibilities’

Motherhood, sex work and HIV in southern Tanzania

Bibliographic Data

ID15097895
AuthorsS Wilson Beckham (Johns Hopkins University, corresponding author), Sam W Beckham (Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA), Catherine R Shembilu (Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania), Catherine Shembilu (Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences), Peter J Winch (0000-0001-8569-5507, Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA), Chris Beyrer (0000-0003-0665-9124, Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA), Deanna Kerrigan (0000-0001-7401-9159, Johns Hopkins University), Deanna L Kerrigan (Department of Health, Behavior and Society, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA)
Year2015
Volume17
Issue2
Pages165-179
Publication date2015-02-07
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueCulture Health & Sexuality (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1369-1058 • E-ISSN: 1464-5351
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/13691058.2014.961034
PMID25270410
OpenAlexW2145846479
LanguageEN
Citations received39
References cited29

Many female sex workers begin sex work as mothers, or because they are mothers, and others seek childbearing. Motherhood may influence women's livelihoods as sex workers and their subsequent HIV risks. We used qualitative research methods (30 in-depth interviews and three focus group discussions) and employed Connell's theory of Gender and Power to explore the intersections between motherhood, sex work, and HIV-related risk. Participants were adult women who self-reported exchanging sex for money within the past month and worked in entertainment venues in southern Tanzania. Participants had two children on average, and two-thirds had children at home. Women situated their socially stigmatised work within their respectable identities as mothers caring for their children. Being mothers affected sex workers' negotiating power in complex manners, which led to both reported increases in HIV-related risk behaviours (accepting more clients, accepting more money for no condom, anal sex), and decreases in risk behaviours (using condoms, demanding condom use, testing for HIV). Sex workers/mothers were aware of risks at work, but with children to support, their choices were constrained. Future policies and programming should consider sex workers' financial and practical needs as mothers, including those related to their children such as school fees and childcare

Condom · Family medicine · Focus group · Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV · Negotiation · Population · Qualitative research · Sex work · Socioeconomics · Sociology · Tanzania · Transactional sex · Demography · Gender Studies · HIV, Drug Use, Sexual Risk · HIV/AIDS Research and Interventions · Medicine · Psychology · Sex work and related issues · Social Psychology

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