Public Opinion, Press Coverage and the Pempho Banda Case: Contesting Sex Work Criminalization in Malawi's Developing Tourism Sector Sitingawawo D. Kachipande Dissertation submitted to the faculty of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy In Sociology Dale W. Wimberley, Co-Chair Nicholas Copeland, Co-Chair Onwubiko Agozino Nancy G. McGehee Paulo S. Polanah May 13, 2019 Blacksburg, VA Keywords: Sex Work, Public Opinion, Criminal Law, Mass Media, Tourism Development, Malawi Copyright © 2019 by Sitingawawo D. Kachipande Public Opinion, Press Coverage and the Pempho Banda Case: Contesting Sex Work Criminalization in Malawi's Developing Tourism Sector Sitingawawo D. Kachipande ABSTRACT When police arrested nineteen women in Dedza, Malawi hospitality locations in 2016, it was under the guise of the living on the earnings of prostitution laws. The women appealed and won their case, with the ruling judge noting that Malawian women are free to patronize any hospitality facilities or bars without fear of being arrested. The case, The Republic v. Pempho Banda and 18 Others, sparked a national debate over the social and legal status of sex workers in the southern African country. It also brought to light that efforts to stimulate tourism had inadvertently boosted the country’s sex work industry. To move away from a reliance on agriculture and bolster socio-economic growth and its foreign exchange earnings, the country is positioning itself to gain a greater market share of visitors. However, as in many tourist destinations, the promise of sex attracts tourists, and sex is increasingly becoming a central offering of Malawi’s tourism industry. Yet, Malawian sex workers continue to occupy a social status in which they are marginalized or mistreated by the general public and criminal justice system. This provides apt conditions for continued and increased human rights abuse against sex workers. This research explores the events, legal environment, media coverage, and public opinion surrounding this case and its relation to the tourism industry. The data is from interviews with actors in the criminal justice system, documents and an analysis of online media about the Pempho Banda et al. case. My dissertation highlights the complexities and contradictions surrounding sex work in Malawi. In doing so, I hope to intervene in the national debate surrounding sex workers so as to facilitate public opinions and policies that are more sex worker friendly and protective of their human rights. Public Opinion, Press Coverage and the Pempho Banda Case: Contesting Sex Work Criminalization in Malawi's Developing Tourism Sector Sitingawawo D. Kachipande GENERAL AUDIENCE ABSTRACT When police arrested nineteen women in Dedza, Malawi hospitality locations in 2016, it was under the guise of living on the earnings of prostitution laws. The sex workers appealed and won their case, with the ruling judge noting that Malawian women are free to patronize any hospitality facilities or bars without fear of being arrested for sex work in what are traditionally considered male spaces. The case, The Republic v. Pempho Banda and 18 Others, sparked a national debate over the social and legal status of sex workers in the southern African country. It also brought to light that stimulating tourism inadvertently boosted the country’s sex work industry. To move away from a reliance on agriculture and bolster its foreign exchange earnings, the country is positioning itself to gain a greater market share of visitors. However, like in many tourist destinations, the promise of sex has attracted both foreign and domestic tourists, thereby progressively promoting sex as a central offering of Malawi’s tourism and hospitality industry. Yet, Malawian sex workers continue to occupy a social status in Malawi in which they are marginalized or mistreated by the general public and within the justice system. These conditions result in continued and increased human rights abuse against sex workers. The Pempho Banda et al. case is a seminal case that assists us in examining the legal and social status of sex workers in this context. This research explores the events, legal environment, media coverage, and public opinion surrounding this case and its relation to the tourism industry. This is done using interviews, documents, and an analysis of online media coverage about the case. I contend that discriminatory laws, policies, practices and sentiments targeting sex workers need to be redressed. My findings imply that a decriminalization approach will advance sex workers’ rights more than criminalization or legalization. Unequivocally, decriminalizing sex work is likely to be met with resistance from the public; however, there is sufficient evidence from public opinion, media coverage and statements from criminal justice system members connected to this case that suggest the existence of support for enacting protective policies for sex workers. Furthermore, since evidence shows a correlation between increased tourism and sex work, I argue that Malawi needs to prepare practical policies that factor in this reality. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Firstly, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my advisors Dr. Dale Wimberley and Dr. Nicholas Copeland for their motivation, in-depth knowledge and their time. Their continuous support of my PhD study and their guidance helped me through the research and writing of this dissertation. Besides my advisors, I would like to thank the rest of my thesis committee: Dr. Paulo Polanah, Dr. Biko Agozino, and Dr. Nancy McGehee, for their insightful comments and for asking questions which led me to widen my research to include various perspectives. I would like to thank interviewees Tashwill Esterhuizen from SALC, Memory from FSWA, Chikondi Chijozi from CHREAA, Fostino Maele, Agnes Mizere and Justice Zione Ntaba for taking the time to interview with me. Additional thanks to go to Victor Mhango from CHREAA, Zinenani Majawa from FSWA and Tiya Kazembe for their assistance. My sincere thanks also go to Prof. Monda Mwaya from University of Pennsylvania for her Chichewa translations as well as Immaculate Ngosi for her assistance with the Chitumbuka translations. I thank my friends, peers and professors in the Department of Sociology at Virginia Tech. for the stimulating discussions and insight over the last few years which has allowed me to grow as a scholar-activist. My gratitude also goes to Dr. Linda Carty at Syracuse University for providing the groundings I needed for this research topic. I would like to thank my parents Florence Kachipande (née Ngosi) and Safiel Kachipande; my siblings Wezi, Thoko, Clarence, Tara and Vanessa for supporting me throughout writing this dissertation. I would also like to thank Matt Prenatt, George Ondiek, and Dave Rabrun for their support as well during this process. Additionally, thanks go to my extended friends and family who supported me along the way, including the Ngosi, Kachipande, Masiyakurima and Tela families. A special thanks to everyone who helped with childcare so that I could have some time to write, including Ennica Mukomberanwa and Gertrude Tasarira … it really takes a village to raise a child…. A special thank you to Knox Masiyakurima for his unending support throughout my graduate college career as well as Mayamiko Masiyakurima and Danai Masiyakurima who had to endure my extended absence during an important time in their lives. Last but not the least, I’d like to thank the voices of Astrud Gilberto, Toni Braxton, Miriam Makeba, Bob Marley and Ingrid Michelson for filling the room with music in the silence of long nights spent bent over my laptop. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ................................................................................................. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................... iv LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................ vii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS .......................................................................................... viii CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................... 1 Statement of the Problem ................................................................................................ 1 Literature Review ............................................................................................................ 2 Background .................................................................................................................. 2 Sex work ...................................................................................................................... 4 Sex work in Malawi ..................................................................................................... 5 Overview of global tourism and hospitality industry ................................................ 10 Critiques to tourism development.............................................................................. 11 Tourism development in Malawi ............................................................................... 14 Sex tourism in the tourism and hospitality industry .................................................. 16 Sex in tourism in Malawi & sex tourism ................................................................... 19 Purpose of the