A newly published study has highlighted the extent of violent abuse suffered by sex workers in South Africa.
An article entitled ‘Sexual IPV and non-partner rape of female sex workers: Findings of a cross-sectional community-centric national study in South Africa’, published in the journal SSM – Mental Health, found that 70.4% had experienced physical violence in the past year, with 57.9% having been raped.
Rape was most widely perpetrated by clients – with 48.3% of respondents having experienced this – followed by intimate partners (31.9%), ‘other men’ (31.2%), and police officers (14%).
The study was conducted among a sample of 3 005 sex workers at 12 sites across the country.
Of these, some 13.3% were between 18 and 24 years of age, 46.4% were aged 25 to 36, 20.8% between 25 and 44, and 9.5% were 45 and older. Just over 17% had migrated from outside South Africa. Nearly half were from food-insecure households.
The study identified a number of factors associated with violence. These included structural issues (such as homelessness and food insecurity), childhood and other trauma, poor mental health, work circumstances and – for cases of sexual intimate partner violence – the characteristic of their partners.
Said the study: ‘Our research has shown that across South Africa, FSWs are particularly vulnerable to rape and other violence from a range of men, including ex- or current intimate partners, policemen, clients, and other men in the community.’
It proposed several interventions to mitigate the crisis, including improving women’s socio-economic conditions and police reform to counter abuse from this quarter. However, the decriminalisation of sex work would be ‘foundational’ to any action.
Image by PublicDomainPictures from Pixabay