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Title Influence of COVID-19 on female sex workers in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania: A mixed-methods analysis.
Full text https://escholarship.org/uc/item/81q1v6dh; https://escholarship.org/content/qt81q1v6dh/qt81q1v6dh.pdf
Date 2024
Author(s) Balampama, Marianna; de Walque, Damien; Dow, William; Hémono, Rebecca
Abstract This study investigates how the landscape of sex work in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, evolved in the context of the COVID-19 epidemic. Using a mixed-methods approach, the analysis triangulates data from quantitative and qualitative sources to quantify shifts in income, demand, and client frequency and describe female sex workers perspectives on their work environment. The COVID-19 restrictions introduced in early 2020 resulted in dramatic decreases in sex work income, leading to extreme financial vulnerability, food insecurity, and challenges in meeting other basic needs such as paying rent. However, in a 2021 follow-up survey, sex workers reported the summer of 2021 as a key turning point, with the demand for sex work rebounding to closer to pre-pandemic levels. Notably, despite the average number of unique weekly clients not yet having fully rebounded, by 2021 the price per client and the total monthly sex work income had returned to pre-pandemic levels. This may potentially be explained by an increased number of repeat clients, which represented a larger proportion of all clients during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Subject(s) Humans; Tanzania; COVID-19; Female; Sex Workers; Adult; Income; Pandemics; SARS-CoV-2; Sex Work; Young Adult; Surveys and Questionnaires; Food Insecurity
Publisher eScholarship, University of California
Type of publication article
Format application/pdf
Source PLoS ONE, vol 19, iss 5
Rights public
Identifier qt81q1v6dh; info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0303993
Repository Berkeley - University of California
Added to C-A: 2024-09-25;09:49:23