African Centre for Migration & Society and School of Public Health, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Perinatal HIV Research Unit, New Nurses Home, Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital, Soweto, South Africa.
Cult Health Sex. 2020 Jan;22(1):1-15. doi: 10.1080/13691058.2019.1568575. Epub 2019 Feb 22.
Despite public health interventions targeting sex workers in an attempt to increase condom use, HIV still remains a significant health issue for those involved in the sex industry in many countries. In this paper, we analyse data collected as part of an ethnographic study of sex work in Soweto, South Africa. We show that the main problems with consistent condom use are clients who threaten violence if sex workers insist on condoms, clients who are 'rough' and refuse to stop intercourse when the condom breaks, and clients who offer to pay more money for unprotected sex. These issues relate to unequal gender norms that disempower female sex workers and dismiss the importance of consent in sexual relationships. The criminalisation of sex work increases vulnerability and reduces sex workers' agency as sex workers are reluctant to report crimes committed against them. Persistent 'whore stigma' adds to this dynamic by dehumanising sex workers. In conclusion, we advocate for decriminalisation and posit that public health interventions aimed at increasing condom use and reducing HIV rates need to specifically engage clients, address unequal gender norms and involve local communities to tackle stigma directed against sex workers.
尽管针对性工作者采取了公共卫生干预措施，试图增加 condom 的使用，但在许多国家，艾滋病毒仍然是从事性产业者面临的一个重大健康问题。在本文中，我们分析了作为南非索韦托性工作人种学研究的一部分收集的数据。我们表明， condom 的持续使用主要存在以下问题：客户如果性工作者坚持使用 condom，就会威胁使用暴力；客户“粗暴”， condom 破裂时拒绝停止性交；客户提出支付更多钱进行无保护性行为。这些问题涉及到不平等的性别规范，使女性性工作者失去权力，并忽视性关系中同意的重要性。性工作的刑事化增加了脆弱性，降低了性工作者的能动性，因为性工作者不愿意报告对他们的犯罪行为。持续的“妓女耻辱”加剧了这种动态，使性工作者失去人性。总之，我们主张非刑事化，并认为旨在增加 condom 的使用和降低艾滋病毒率的公共卫生干预措施需要特别针对客户，解决不平等的性别规范，并让当地社区参与解决针对性工作者的耻辱。
