View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by South East Academic Libraries System (SEALS) SEX WORK AS A LIVELIHOOD STRATEGY IN THE BORDER TOWN OF BEITBRIDGE, ZIMBABWE A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Social Science of Rhodes University by Wadzanai Michelle Takawira Supervisor: Professor Kirk Helliker Department of Sociology January 2016 ABSTRACT Zimbabwe is experiencing an ongoing downward spiral in its national economy, dating back to the early 1990s. The demise of the country’s formal economy has led to unprecedented growth in informal economic activities including illegal forms such as sex work. The thesis seeks to understand and explain sex work as a livelihood strategy in Zimbabwe with particular reference to the border town of Beitbridge. In understanding sex work as a livelihood strategy in Beitbridge, the thesis adopts a livelihoods framework in providing key insights into the daily lives of sex workers including the context of vulnerability in which they live and work as well as the challenges they face constantly. In addition, because of the significance of patriarchy in shaping the lives of women and specifically sex workers in Zimbabwe, the feminist theory is used as a secondary theoretical framework. The fieldwork for the study is based on informal interviews and focus group discussions with sex workers as well as observation. Diverse and interrelated themes are covered in examining the livelihoods of sex workers in Beitbridge, and these include sex worker income and expenditure, the motivations underpinning entry into sex work, the home origins of sex workers and their ongoing linkages with their areas of origin, occupational hazards such as client violence and health risks, stigma and discrimination of sex workers, and sex worker solidarity. Though the lives of the sex workers in Beitbridge are marked by precariousness and uncertainty, it is concluded that sex workers are not mere victims of their historical and social circumstances as they are actively engaged in constructing their livelihoods. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My special thanks to the following people for their invaluable contribution to this thesis: Professor Kirk Helliker, the Head of Department and my supervisor at Rhodes University’s Sociology Department, for his guidance, patience and commitment throughout the writing of this thesis. I am thankful for his academic and emotional support when I doubted my own abilities. I thank him for the funding that made this thesis a reality and for his dedicated supervision. He will forever remain an influential part of my life. I am forever indebted to him for his great intellectual mentorship. I also appreciate the assistance I received from support staff, Juanita and Vuvu, upon my arrival in my first year until my Masters; they made my stay easy and comfortable. My parents, Mr and Mrs Takawira and my brother Clayton Takawira for their unconditional love, and financial and emotional support in the writing of this thesis. Specifically, I credit my mother in her passion for feminism and the need to change the lives of underprivileged women in Zimbabwe. She was a huge source of encouragement in the course of writing this thesis. I thank my friends for their unwavering support and love during the writing of this thesis. Many thanks go to specifically Litseo Ndlovu who provided me with the accommodation I needed for the duration of the fieldwork for this research. I am forever indebted to her for her hospitality. I also thank my friends Tafadzwa, Kudzi, Natasha, Nyarie, Mercy, Grace, Paidamoyo and Takunda who all provided academic support and countless words of encouragement during the writing of this thesis. I owe a debt of gratitude to the respondents of this research for their understanding and sharing with me their experiences. Without their cooperation this research would not be possible. Special thanks to Nomagugu who became a dear friend. I wish her and her friends the best life can offer. Most importantly I thank God the Almighty to whom I owe my life, health and all that I have which made it possible for me to write this thesis. With Him everything is possible. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT......................................................................................................................... ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................... iii 1.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Context of Thesis ........................................................................................................... 1 1.3 Thesis Objectives ........................................................................................................... 3 1.4 Research Methodology .................................................................................................. 4 1.4.1 Research Design.......................................................................................................... 4 1.4.2 Research Methods ...................................................................................................... 6 1.4.3 Data Analysis .............................................................................................................. 7 1.4.4 Fieldwork Challenges and Research Ethics............................................................... 8 1.5 Thesis Outline .............................................................................................................. 11 CHAPTER TWO: THEORETICAL FRAMING ............................................................ 13 2.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 13 2.2 Feminist Theory .......................................................................................................... 13 2.3 Livelihoods Theoretical Framework........................................................................... 18 2.3.1 Key Dimensions of the Framework.......................................................................... 18 2.3.2 Livelihood Capitals ................................................................................................... 19 2.3.3 Policies, Institutions and Processes .......................................................................... 22 2.3.4 Criticisms of the Livelihoods Framework ............................................................... 24 2.3.5 Gender and the Livelihoods Framework ................................................................. 25 2.4 Conclusion ................................................................................................................... 26 CHAPTER THREE: SEX WORK IN ZIMBABWE ....................................................... 28 3.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 28 3.2 Prostitution or Sex Work: Shifting Definitions .......................................................... 28 3.3 Historical Overview of Sex Work in Zimbabwe ......................................................... 30 3.3.1 Sex work in colonial Southern Rhodesia ................................................................. 30 iv 3.3.2 Sex Work in Zimbabwe Post-Independence ............................................................ 32 3.3.3 Post-2000 sex work in Zimbabwe............................................................................. 34 3.4 Themes in Sex Work ................................................................................................... 37 3.4.1 Minor Themes in Sex Work ..................................................................................... 37 3.4.1.1 Alcohol and Drug Abuse ....................................................................................... 38 3.4.1.2 Migration and Border Towns................................................................................ 39 3.4.1.3 Underage Sex Work ............................................................................................... 39 3.4.1.4 Sex Work and Patriarchy ...................................................................................... 40 3.4.2 Major Themes in Sex work ...................................................................................... 41 3.4.2.1 Sex Worker/Client Relations ................................................................................. 42 3.4.2.2 Single Mothers and the Feminisation of Poverty ................................................. 43 3.4.2.3 HIV/AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Diseases .................................................... 44 3.4.2.4 Sex Work and the Government ............................................................................. 46 3.4.2.5 Sex Work as a Livelihood Strategy ....................................................................... 48 3.5 Conclusion ................................................................................................................... 49 CHAPTER FOUR: SEX WORK MOTIVATIONS AND HOME ORIGINS/LINKAGES FOR BEITBRIDGE SEX WORKERS............................................................................. 50 4.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 50 4.2 Background of research site: Beitbridge ...................................................................