Intention, barriers and opportunities to exit from commercial sex work among female sex workers in Ethiopia: Qualitative study

Authors

  • Yohannes Teka Mazeingia Debre Markos University, Debre Markos, Ethiopia
  • Ayenew Negesse Debre Markos University, Debre Markos, Ethiopia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.3126/ijosh.v10i1.29885

Keywords:

intention, exit, commercial sex worker, barriers, opportunities

Abstract

Background: Commercial sex work exposed women to countless risks and exit is recommended as an essential strategy to tackle those risks. Intention to exit can predict women’s actual exit potential from commercial sex work. Therefore, the purpose of the study was to explore intention, barriers and facilitating situations to exit from commercial sex work among female sex workers in Dire Dawa, Ethiopia.

Method: We conducted qualitative research among 18 female sex workers using in-depth interviews. Once data was collected with the local language, we transcribed the recorded data and translated to English before exporting to ATLASti7 to facilitate the data analysis process. We used respondent-driven sampling to recruit study participants. We implemented the inductive thematic analysis approach.

Result and discussion: Women had a strong intention to exit from commercial sex work. Although women intended to give up on commercial sex work, they needed to pass barriers like financial insecurity, social stigma and discrimination, skill gap, lack of support and poor education status before they successfully exit. Their demand for minimal financial supports to open a private business and strong motivation are opportunities for a successful exit from commercial sex work.

Conclusion: Women had a strong intention to exit from commercial sex work though they demanded support from others. Therefore, government and other stakeholders need to provide comprehensive support to commercial sex workers like financial support, fill skill gap and improve poor saving habit through training and establish functioning rehabilitation centers for drug addict women.

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Author Biographies

Yohannes Teka Mazeingia, Debre Markos University, Debre Markos, Ethiopia

Lecturer, Department of Public Health

Ayenew Negesse, Debre Markos University, Debre Markos, Ethiopia

Department of Human Nutrition and Food Sciences, College of Health Science

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Published

2020-07-05

How to Cite

Mazeingia, Y. T., & Negesse, A. (2020). Intention, barriers and opportunities to exit from commercial sex work among female sex workers in Ethiopia: Qualitative study. International Journal of Occupational Safety and Health, 10(1), 64–72. https://doi.org/10.3126/ijosh.v10i1.29885

Issue

Section

Original Articles

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