Rachel Pryzby, Smith College
“Helping Women Help Themselves: Sex Work, Health and Development in Mahajanga Mali”
Abstract: Poverty is an inescapable reality in Madagascar, a force that permeates the lives of many Malagasy people. Approximately 75 % of the population lives on less than one dollar (U.S.) per person per day. This poverty proves to be particularly detrimental to women who are often illiterate, unmarried, and have children to support. In cases such as these, often the quickest and most lucrative type of work available is sex work. The proportion of sex workers in the city of Mahajanga is quite large—approximately 1500 in a population of 250,000. Some of these sex workers are high school students interested in earning money to buy material items and others are older single mothers or victims of abuse. Each of these individuals chose to enter the sex work industry for different reasons and under different circumstances, but for many of them leaving the industry is not an option.
Though prostitution is a universal social phenomenon, the visibility of sex workers in Madagascar- and Mahajanga in particular- is quite striking. This study initially sought to understand sex workers’ conditions from the perspective of medical practitioners, non-governmental organizations, the community at large, and, most importantly, sex workers themselves. To accomplish this, the study was based on interviews, and used data from observations and readings. After the first stage of the study, the focus towards how to help sex workers: what kind of help they seek, if any; what efforts currently exist among Malagasy and foreign organizations; what is the role of healthcare in aiding sex workers; and which elements are lacking. The basis of the study was communicating with the sex workers themselves, women who may not be able to openly express their opinions and perspectives in general society.
