We are human beings
The social support to commercial sex workers during Covid-19 in the criminalised setting at uMhlathuze Local Municipality, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6011175 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Victor H Mlambo (0000-0002-7705-8863, University of Johannesburg—Soweto Campus, corresponding author), Mandla Mfundo Masuku (0000-0003-3743-0779, University of KwaZulu-Natal) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 62 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 376-385 |
| Publication date | 2025-04-03 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The Social Science Journal (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0362-3319 • E-ISSN: 1873-5355 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/03623319.2022.2126290 |
| OpenAlex | W4302305061 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 20 |
The vulnerability of sex workers during the COVID-19 pandemic, and their real-life experiences, are discussed in this paper. The study uses the humanitarianism theory as a lens to understand why sex workers are excluded from social safety programmes, and why they should receive government and non-governmental organisation (NGO) aid. To comprehend the lived experiences of sex workers, in their own words, the researchers adopted a qualitative research approach. A total of 11 commercial sex workers, all of whom were female and operated in uMhlathuze’s towns areas, were interviewed. The study found that the pandemic took away the means of generating income to secure the livelihoods of commercial sex workers. Social support from the government and NGOs was available, but sex workers did not have access to it because their activity fell outside the legal beneficiary framework, which is contrary to humanitarian principles, in which every individual deserves assistance during difficult times. The criminalisation of commercial sex work has worsened poverty and the socioeconomic desperation during the pandemic. The study recommends that commercial sex be decriminalised and that safety programmes be implemented to restore the dignity of sex workers and secure their livelihoods
Beneficiary · Dignity · Economic growth · Economics · Geography · Livelihood · Pandemic · Political science · Population · Poverty · Qualitative research · Sex work · Sex workers · Social protection · Social science · Socioeconomic status · Socioeconomics · Sociology · Demography · HIV, Drug Use, Sexual Risk · Law · Medicine · Sex work and related issues
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Global epidemiology of HIV among female sex workers
The Continued Criminality of Selling Sex
You can’t break a SWEAT – Creatively fighting for the rights of sex workers in South Africa
Empathic Humanitarianism
Response to a scandal
What, where, and how
How Covid-19 affects prostitution markets in the Netherlands and Belgium
Reasons for Entering into Sex Work in Iran
Disability and sex work
Resilient Humanitarianism? Using Assemblage to re-evaluate the history of the League of Red Cross Societies
The Movement to Criminalize Sex Work in the United States
The Impact of the Coronavirus Disease (Covid-19) on the Health and Social Needs of Sex Workers in Singapore
Sex Work Criminalization Is Barking Up the Wrong Tree
Community-Based Responses to Negative Health Impacts of Sexual Humanitarian Anti-Trafficking Policies and the Criminalization of Sex Work and Migration in the US
Romancing principles and human rights
The Relative Quality of Sex Work
The Resilience of Female Sex Workers in the Wake of Covid-19 in Zimbabwe
| Citations per year | 0.33 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2023 - 2023 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |