| dc.description.abstract | This paper focuses on female Commercial Sex Workers (CSWs) in Nairobi. The purpose
of this study was to describe the use of lCT in commercial sex work, and the health risks
that the commercial sex workers face during their operations. The study was guided by
the following objectives: 1) to establish the current use of lCT in commercial sex work
industry; 2) to establish the effect of prostitution on the spread of STDs and HlV/AlD'S
among the commercial sex workers; 3) to determine the health precautions taken by
commercial sex workers operating in Nairobi City and 4) to assess ways in which
commercial sex workers cope with the associated health-related challenges in Nairobi
City.
The study was carried out among the CSWs operating in Nairobi City in Kenya. A cross sectional
quantitative survey research design was used for the study. Qualitative research
method was adopted to enrich quantitative data. The targeted population for the study
was female commercial sex workers operating in Nairobi City. The unit of analysis was
prostitution as a health hazard among the prostitutes.
The study utilized two sources of data that is primary and secondary sources. A total of
100 respondents were targeted by the study out of which 71 responded giving a response
rate of 71%. Snowball sampling technique was used to reach the respondents. The study
also collected data from 5 watchmen and 4 bouncers who were purposively selected as
key informants out of the original target of 12. The main data collection technique for the
study was personal interviews which were in form of schedule-structured interview for
the prostitutes and semi-structured interview for key informants.
On the demographic characteristics of the respondents, the study found that majority 50
(70%) of commercial sex workers were relatively young the average age being 28 years
with a standard deviation of 1.2. The trade is dominated by single females since virtually
no African male would allow their wives to engage in prostitution while in marriage.
Further, more than half 36 (51%) of the sample reported to have children of their own,
with a range of 1-4 children which is the normal fertility rate expected for a woman in urban area in Kenya. Most important, a bulk 58 (82%) of CSWs have at least secondary
level of education.
On the current use of ICT in commercial sex work, the study found that 62 (87%) of the
sampled respondents used mobile phone to make transactions and reach their clients in
Nairobi city. This was evidenced by the fact that 39 (55%) of the respondents used social
sites such as facebook, twitter, badoo, tagged and emails to get their clients. Regarding
the effect of prostitution on the spread of STDs and HIVIAIDS, the study found that
majority 67 (94%) of the respondents indicated that it poses health risks. Commercial sex
work exposed the participants to diseases such as HIVIAIDS as indicated by 72%. They
were also exposed to STDs such as syphilis, gonorrhea and herps. The following health
precautions were taken by prostitutes: visiting Sex Workers Outreach Programs (SWOP)
clinics for check up and treatments in case of infection or exposure to unprotected sex as
indicated by 42 (59.2%) of the respondents and use of condoms as indicated by 54
(76.1 %) of the respondents. The study finally found that the coping mechanisms used by
prostitutes included: use of ARVs among those infected by HIV/AIDs, formation of
small teams for security purposes, taking alcohol, chewing miraa and reducing the
number of clients.
The study recommended that government of Kenya should come up with more focused
strategies to tackle the driving forces to prostitution such poverty and low income. It was
also recommended that NGOs, donors, community and government should introduce
capacity building programs for CSWs which will enable them acquire useful skills which
are marketable in their lives. The study further recommended that communities should
make deliberate efforts to reduce the rise of single motherhood in contemporary society
which is a strong driving force to commercial sex work. Finally, the study recommended
that the government should come up with a minimum pay policy to minimize exploitation
and enable all Kenyans in employment to earn a reasonable pay. | en_US |
