Humans; Cameroon; Female; Adult; Young Adult; Adolescent; Qualitative Research; Perception; Sex Work/psychology; Sex Work/statistics & numerical data; Sex Workers/psychology; Sex Workers/statistics & numerical data; HIV Infections/prevention & control; HIV Infections/psychology; HIV Infections; Sex Work; Sex Workers; Health (social science); History and Philosophy of Science
Abstract :
[en] [en] CONTEXT: Although AIDS-related deaths continue to decline, there are more people living with HIV than ever before. Sub-Saharan Africa remains disproportionately affected by the epidemic, with women aged 15-24 being over three times as likely to acquire HIV than their male counterparts. One reason for this disparity is that those engaging in 'transactional sex' do not benefit from governmental HIV prevention efforts. Transactional sex is both less well understood than sex work and more common, suggesting the need for further research.
METHOD: To this end, we interviewed eighteen women engaging in transactional sex in Yaoundé, Cameroon using snowball sampling. Participants were recruited using respondent-driven sampling, with the help of a nongovernmental organisation that works with women engaging in transactional sex. The objective of this study is to understand how transactional sex differs from commercial sex according to women engaging in transactional sex.
RESULTS: We found that participants distinguished themselves from sex workers, but only in a limited sense. They referred to themselves as 'private prostitutes', meaning those who sell sex in all but name. 'Private prostitutes' avoid red-light districts and do not wear revealing clothing, but exchange sex for money all the same. They are no less profit-oriented than their 'public' counterparts (i.e., sex workers), reminding us that the two activities have a lot of similarities in as far as public health is concerned.
DISCUSSION: Women engaging in transactional sex would require equal attention than FSWs in terms of HIV prevention. Like FSWs, they have multiple sexual partners and unprotected sex. They should be considered a 'key population' for HIV prevention. This would improve public health outcomes, suggesting the need to target women engaging in transactional sex on a greater scale than previously attempted in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Disciplines :
Sociology & social sciences
Author, co-author :
Lépine, Aurélia; Institute for Global Health, University College London, London, United Kingdom. Electronic address: a.lepine@ucl.ac.uk
Henderson, Charlie; Institute for Global Health, University College London, London, United Kingdom
Nitcheu, Emile; John Hopkins Cameroon Programme, Yaoundé, Cameroon
Procureur, Fanny; Institute for Global Health, University College London, London, United Kingdom
Cust, Henry ; Institute for Global Health, University College London, London, United Kingdom
Toukam, Létitia; John Hopkins Cameroon Programme, Yaoundé, Cameroon
Chimsgueya, Chimene; John Hopkins Cameroon Programme, Yaoundé, Cameroon
Noo, Julienne; John Hopkins Cameroon Programme, Yaoundé, Cameroon
Szawlowski, Sandie; Institute for Global Health, University College London, London, United Kingdom
Defo Tamgno, Eric ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Unité de recherche Santé publique, épidémiologie et économie de la santé (URSAPES) ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Faculté de Médecine > Form. doct. sc. santé publ. (paysage) ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Faculté de Médecine > Doct. scienc. sant. publ. ; John Hopkins Cameroon Programme, Yaoundé, Cameroon
Mandop, Silvia; John Hopkins Cameroon Programme, Yaoundé, Cameroon
Moyoum, Stephanie; John Hopkins Cameroon Programme, Yaoundé, Cameroon
Billong, Serge; University of Yaoundé I, Yaoundé, Cameroon
Mfochive, Iliassou; John Hopkins Cameroon Programme, Yaoundé, Cameroon
Tamoufe, Ubald; John Hopkins Cameroon Programme, Yaoundé, Cameroon
UK Research and Innovation UK Research and Innovation Medical Research Council
Funding text :
The study was funded by the UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship awrded to Aurelia Lepine (MR/S031790/1): https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=MR%2FS031790%2F1.
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