Lépine Aurélia, Henderson Charlie, Nitcheu Emile, Procureur Fanny, Cust Henry, Toukam Létitia, Chimsgueya Chimene, Noo Julienne, Szawlowski Sandie, Tamgno Eric Defo, Mandop Silvia, Moyoum Stephanie, Billong Serge, Mfochive Iliassou, Tamoufe Ubald
Institute for Global Health, University College London, London, United Kingdom.
Institute for Global Health, University College London, London, United Kingdom.
Soc Sci Med. 2024 Dec;363:117492. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2024.117492. Epub 2024 Nov 7.
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.
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.
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.
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.
尽管与艾滋病相关的死亡人数持续下降，但感染艾滋病毒的人数比以往任何时候都多。撒哈拉以南非洲仍然受到该流行病的严重影响，15至24岁的女性感染艾滋病毒的可能性是男性的三倍多。这种差异的一个原因是，从事“交易性性行为”的人没有从政府的艾滋病毒预防工作中受益。交易性性行为比性工作更难理解且更普遍，这表明需要进一步研究。
为此，我们在喀麦隆雅温得对18名从事交易性性行为的女性进行了访谈，采用滚雪球抽样法。在一个与从事交易性性行为的女性合作的非政府组织的帮助下，通过应答驱动抽样招募了参与者。本研究的目的是了解从事交易性性行为的女性如何看待交易性性行为与商业性性行为的不同。
我们发现，参与者将自己与性工作者区分开来，但只是在有限的程度上。她们称自己为“私人妓女”，意思是那些除了名字之外实际上在卖性的人。“私人妓女”避开红灯区，不穿暴露的衣服，但同样以性换钱。她们与“公共”同行（即性工作者）一样以盈利为导向，这提醒我们，就公共卫生而言，这两种行为有很多相似之处。
在艾滋病毒预防方面，从事交易性性行为的女性应得到与性工作者同等的关注。与性工作者一样，她们有多个性伴侣且进行无保护性行为。她们应被视为艾滋病毒预防的“关键人群”。这将改善公共卫生结果，表明需要在撒哈拉以南非洲比以往更大规模地针对从事交易性性行为的女性。
