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A STUDY ON

ADOLESCENT COMMERCIAL SEX WORKERS IN MALAWI - A CASE STUDY OF MZUZU AND SALIMA

July 1998

Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation P O Box 2340 Lilongwe MALAWI Tel: (265) 1 761 122 Fax (265) 1 761 700 Email: chrr@sdnp.org.mw Website: chrr.org.mw

A STUDY ON

ADOLESCENT COMMERCIAL SEX WORKERS IN MALAWI - A CASE STUDY OF MZUZU AND SALIMA

Prepared by: Khwauli Msiska Grant Sichali

July 1998

Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation P O Box 2340 Lilongwe Tel./Fax 758 435

TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ii iii iv 1 1 3 4 4 4 6 10 11

List of Tables and Texts Acknowledgements Executive Summary 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.3.1 1.3.2 1.3.3 1.3.4 1.3.5 1.3.5 12 2.0 2.1 2.1.1 2.2 2.2.1 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.5.1 2.6 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 56 4.0 4.1 4.2 INTRODUCTION Background to the Problem Objectives of the Study Methodology Target Sites The Target Group for the Study Data Collection The Questionnaire The Pilot Study Data Analysis

FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION Demographic Information Commercial Sex Workers Commercial Sex Workers Perspective CSWs Focus Group Discussions Older Men Perspective Hotels, Bars, Resthouses and Bottlestores Personnels Perspective Parents, Teachers and Guardians Perspective Parents and Chiefs Focus Group Discussions School Pupils Perspective OBSERVATIONS Experiences, Economic and Environmental Aspects Awareness and Behavioural Patterns Expectations and Socio-cultural Considerations

14 14 14 20 23 29 35 38 43 47 51 51 54

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS Recommendations Conclusion References Appendix I: Glossary II: Data Collection Tools

59 59 61 63 64 65

LIST OF TABLES AND TEXTS Tables Table 1a: Age Distribution of CSWs in Salima and their Duration in Business Table 1b: Age Distribution of CSWs in Mzuzu and their Duration in Business
Table 2: Distribution in Terms of Education Among CSWs

14 15
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Table Table Table Table Table Table

3a: 3b: 4: 5: 6: 7:

Origin and Ethnicity Distribution Among CSWs in Salima Origin and Ethnicity Distribution Among CSWs in Mzuzu CSWs and their Relations they were Living with at the time of the Study CSWs Reasons for not Living with both Parents CSWs Reasons for not being Satisfied with sex work Demographic information on Older men

16 17 18 19 21 30

Texts Text Text Text Text Text Text Text Text Text Text Text Text Text Text Text Text Text 1: 2: 3: 4: 5: 6: 7: 8: 9: 10: 11: 12: 13: 14: 15: 16: 17: FGD at Mzuzu FGD at Salima Older Man 5 Older Man 2 Meat Roaster A Resthouse keeper A Watchman A parent in Mzuzu A Teacher in Mzuzu FGD for Chiefs in Salima Parents FGD School Pupils FGD in Salima CSW 10 at Chipoka CSWs Problems Benefits Awareness Feelings, Relationship and Expectations 23

26
30 32 35

37
37 39 41 43 45 47 51 52 53

55
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Acknowledgments We first wish to sincerely thank the JSI-STAFH Project for their grant support provided to Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation which enabled us conduct this research study on adolescent commercial sex workers. We also would like to express our appreciation to the research study coordinator, Mr. Ollen Mwalubunju, and the entire research team comprising of Mr. Grant Sichali, the Principal investigator; and Mr. Khwauli Msiska, the study Advisor for the arduous task well performed in conducting this important study. Special thanks to the research supervisors, Messrs. Clifford Msiska and Undule Mwakasungura, as well as all the research assistants comprising of Tasokwa Mwale, Luck Mhango, Shemu Phiri, Charles Ngoma as well as Mrs. Rebecca Ngalande and Miss. Selina Namalueso for their patience and dedication during the whole process of data collection. Our thanks are also extended to all the informants in Mzuzu and Salima, who patiently provided the data through sometimes long and repeated interviews and for their willingness to share information including their intimate experiences. Our acknowledgments will not be complete without, once more, expressing sincere thanks to Messs Grant Sichali and Khwauli Msiska who patiently spent days of long hours patiently entering data, analysing and writing study report. Last but not least to all those who in one way or another contributed into making the study on adolescent commercial sex workers a reality. Principal Investigator: Grant Sichali, Programme Officer, CHRR Study Advisor: Khwauli Msiska, Director, Think Tank Group Study Coordinator Ollen Mwalubunju, Executive Director, CHRR

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Executive Summary This research study attempts to unveil the socio-economic, cultural, and personal dynamics that influence adolescents to join commercial sex work. In addition, the study has investigated the risks to which they are exposed, their social acceptance, the benefits involved and how their socio-economic situation could be improved. It is intended that the results of this study will, among other things, assist in how best to check the trend of adolescents joining the sex industry as well as save them from the dangers of the deadly disease AIDS. The broad objective of the study was to find out the socio-economic, cultural, and personal dynamics that influence adolescents engage in commercial sex work. Understanding the rationale behind this phenomenon would, among other things, help policy and programme makers in designing and initiating more effective interventions to protect the youth from the scourge of AIDS. The specific objectives of the study were to investigate: backgrounds, problems and needs, benefits and risks among adolescent commercial sex workers; why older men go out with young girls; the role parents play in influencing their daughters to engage in sex work; social acceptance of adolescent sex workers. Methodology The target group for this study covered a variety of research subjects who in one way or another influence the behaviour and activities of such adolescents. These included the adolescent sex workers themselves. The eligible ones were those of ages between 12 and 20 years and comprised resident workers in bars, resthouses, restaurants as well as free-lancers. The other group comprised of older men who go out with adolescent sex workers. The term older men was coined and used in the study for those men who were perceived and observed to be customers to adolescent sex workers. Parents, guardians, chiefs and teachers constituted another significant target group. Parents included uncles, aunts, grandmothers and grandfathers mostly from low income bracket not specifically related to those adolescent commercial sex workers covered under this study. The primary school teachers were equally important in this group because preliminary findings had indicated that most of commercial sex workers (CSWs) reached standard 6, 7 and 8. The last group was that of personnel of hotels, guest houses and bottle stores who proved to be key informants on the activities and
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identification of CSWs. These included meat roasters, watchmen, bartenders, resthouse attendants and in some cases owners of the premises. There were two main target study areas, namely, Mzuzu and Salima. Mzuzu was chosen because very few studies targeting sex workers had been conducted in that city. Salima, on the other hand, was chosen because it has a resort area, army barracks, and a fishing industry and also many civil servants visit the area for workshops, seminars and conferences. For data collection, the researchers used triangulation method. Triangulation method made use of multiple methods to study the problem. It is an approach which combines multiple methods, measures, researchers, and perspective, for mainly with a view to come up with more objective information.. In this study, a combination of methods was used including in-depth discussions/interviews, focus observations, in-depth discussions with key-informants for the development of case studies, and a limited number of focus group discussions (FGDs). For investigator triangulation, which is the use of different researchers, the study used males and females as data collectors. Eight weeks were spent for data collection in the field covering two research areas. This meant that on average the data collecting team spent two weeks in each study area. The whole group as a team worked in Salima first before moving to Mzuzu. Data Collecting Tools The questionnaire was the main tool used in the field for data collecting. Apart from the demographic information sought in sections one and two, all the questions were open ended. A total of 79 open-ended questions were administered to the research subjects. Of these, 44 were administered to CSWs, 10 to parents, guardians and teachers, 11 to personnel in hotels, resthouses and bottlestores and lastly 14 to older men. The 44 questions administered to CSWs were grouped under four themes, namely, Environment and Experiences of a sex worker, Awareness, Behaviour, Expectations and Socio-cultural Aspects. Almost an equal number of questions appeared under each theme. These thematic areas were designed in such a way that they formed a common denominator for a group of questions assigned to each.

Data Analysis The data was analyzed using Microsoft Access and Microsoft word for the demographic and qualitative data respectively. For the demographic data, a Database was created on the basis of age; education; time spent in the business; places of origin; ethnicity; religion, etc. Qualitative data of CSWs was analyzed by grouping the descriptive data according to the main themes within the questionnaire which included environment and experiences of CSWs, awareness, behaviour, and expectations and socio-cultural aspects of CSWs, and patterns were established for each theme. Qualitative data gathered from other research subjects was analyzed through grouping the information into major areas of focus such as their knowledge and extent of commercial sex work within their areas, reasons for the practice, their views about the practice as well as their suggestions on how to contain the situation. Findings There is ample evidence from this study conducted in Salima and Mzuzu that the problem of adolescent girls exchanging sex for money exists in the urban areas of Malawi. The areas affected are not only the resort areas of the country, but also in all other areas with a relative concentration of economic activities. There is also evidence to suggest that the further away from urban centres coupled with less economic activities, the less the problem of commercial sex work. At most girls from non urban areas tend to migrate to towns for them to effectively engage in commercial sex work. It was not surprising, therefore, that places such as Lifuwu, SengaBay and Chipoka had fewer CSWs than Salima town itself. In fact, at Chipoka the activities of CSWs becomes active during days when the MV Ilala and Mtendere dock at the port. Likewise, it was difficult to find CSWs in Ekwendeni which is a small trading centre about ten kilometers away from Mzuzu. According to their experiences, the parents, ODs, personnels in hotels, bottlestores and resthouses were of the view that the problem of commercial sex work is growing. For instance, in Luwinga, a suburb of Mzuzu, there has been a sharp increase of CSWs activities with the establishment of the tobacco market two years ago. Also most of the informants indicated that not long ago, the problem was not as extensive as it was at the time of the study in all the areas covered. On the part of CSWs, experiences to them mean their day to day activities pertaining to their business. Those interviewed discussed their experiences by constantly referring to their common difficulties in identifying customers, the
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benefits they get from the business as well as the numerous problems they encounter on the day to day basis. A typical example of such CSWs experiences include problems from different customers ranging from forced sex, receiving no pay after providing sexual services, getting arrested by police, beatings, etc. Inspite of the many problems they encounter, most CSWs would still continue with their business mainly because of the benefits they get and partly due to lack of readily available alternatives. All the informants including the CSWs themselves, sampled in the study, cited poverty as one of the main reasons for the business and economic benefits as what keeps most CSWs in the business. According to some of these informants, some parents encourage their daughters to get involved in the business due to the ready benefits. What is most significant in the analysis of the benefits from sex work is to understand the whole network system - How it functions and all the beneficiaries involved. For instance, there is evidence from this study that owners of premises frequented by CSWs do not mind the presence of CSWs as long as they help to attract customers. To them it does not matter how young the CSWs are but rather how much they can make. Likewise, the employees at these premises such as meat roasters, watchmen, barmen and resthouse keepers stand to gain financially by playing the role of facilitators between CSWs and customers. On their part, ODs fulfill their sexual desires and the CSWs get away with some money to meet their daily needs. To them the problems surrounding the business are not of immediate concern. The problems are either occasional or distant such as the threat of a possibility of contracting HIV/AIDS sometime in the future. In contrast, their day to day needs are a matter of here and now problems. In meeting their needs, other beneficiaries are involved such us some parents, old grand parents, young sisters or brothers as well as CSWs children. Matters of awareness and behaviour in this study are targeted at CSWs and ODs primarily because the commercial sex work transaction involves the two parties. It is natural, therefore, to focus on the level of their awareness regarding consequences of commercial sex activities and how such awareness is reflected in their sexual behaviours. Findings in this study have established that on the one hand there is a relatively adequate awareness on both parties regarding the transmission, dangers and prevention of STDs including HIV/AIDS, the use of condoms and the other risks in the commercial sex business. On the other hand, their general behaviour does not correspond with their level of awareness.

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The cultural dimension, in this study, has also come out very clearly though differing in approach as seen in the two study areas. On the one hand, there are those as was the case with the information from both study areas who argue that, unlike in the past, the stage by stage councelling of the youth has been eroded living a cultural vacuum which is getting filled up by some undesirable imitated cultures largely responsible for commercial sex work. This, according to them, has been compounded by the almost drastic changes in the new, often misinterpreted, political dispensension. This view strongly advocates for resorting to the kind of step by step counselling of the youth which took into account their crucial stages of growth as a way to equip them with the necessary information for a responsible adulthood. On the other hand, there are those who argue that some of their cultural practices such as msondo, an initiation ceremony by the Yao, are responsible for encouraging the youth to get involved in early adolescent sex and as such expose them to unnecessary temptations which may lead to engaging in commercial sex work. However, the two views are not necessarily diametrically opposed but rather differ in terms of approach. On their part, it seems, as established in the study, almost every CSW plans and hopes to get married as a way of settling down. This alone is a way of self realisation that whatever they are doing as sex workers is not permanent, not sustainable and indeed a life style in transition. They know that they do not have the support of the society at large not even that of their neighbours and close relatives. This is most likely one of the main reasons that a significant number of CSWs interviewed expressed dissatisfaction with their business, some openly admitting that apart from being risky, it is not a respectable job. Even the very few who expressed satisfaction with their business expressed a desire and readiness to do something different once provided with the necessary support.

Conclusion and Recommendations The researchers of this study are satisfied that the objectives set out for this study have been achieved. However, the study will not be complete without translating the findings into specific suggestions and recommendation with a hope that some interventions may be put in place by some relevant institutions. With this in mind, the study offers some specific and targeted recommendations directed towards government as well as non-governmental institutions for possible implementation in form of specific interventions.

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1.0 INTRODUCTION This research study was undertaken in an attempt to unveil the socio-economic, cultural, and personal dynamics that influence adolescents to join commercial sex work. In addition, the study aimed at investigating the risks to which they are exposed, their social acceptance, the benefits involved and how their socioeconomic situation could be improved. It was envisaged that the results of this study would, among other things, assist in how best to check the trend of adolescents joining the sex industry as well as save them from the dangers of the deadly disease AIDS. The information in this report, is aimed at assisting policy and programme makers in designing and making more effective interventions to protect the youth from the scourge of AIDS and also to empower them to enable them live a meaningful life and effectively contribute to the development of the country. 1.1 Background

Of late the country has been experiencing a growing number of young girls (as young as 12 years of age) joining the sex industry. Malawi being one of the countries with the highest HIV/AIDS prevalence in the world (with an estimated 10% of adults being Human Immunodeficiency Virus positive), puts these young future mothers at a very high risk of contracting this deadly disease. All this is happening despite the Aids campaign awareness. Chirwa states that "while more than 90% of sexually active Malawians are aware of Aids and its dangers, they have not, en masse, started practicing low-risk sexual behaviour". Mac Auliffe (1994) argues that even correct information, presented in a manner sensitive to the cultural context of the community, may not have sufficient weight to bring about behaviour change if it is not tied to the factors which influence and reinforce behaviour change. People feel more motivated to make behavioural changes when they believe that their personal and cultural views are understood. Bundura (1991) also argues that interpersonal influences within the immediate social network of a person have stronger effect on behaviour than general normative sanctions. For instance, he believes that risk reduction behaviours for HIV are often not adopted because sociocultural, religious, and economic factors operate as constraints on self-protective behaviour. Mckusick (1990) states that the dramatic decrease in unprotected sex in the San Francisco homosexual community from 44 percent to 3 percent between 1985 and 1988 can largely be attributed to social networking and normative changes within the community itself. It is, therefore, important that the emerging group of adolescent commercial sex workers, who face a high risk of contracting HIV, be
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studied to unveil the socio-economic, cultural, and personal dynamics that influence them with a view to come up with appropriate interventions specifically for their group. The loss of these young Malawian women will have a very negative impact on the potential human resources and hence weaken Malawi's ability to pursue sustainable socio-economic development. And there is strong evidence that HIV transmission affects women at a higher rate than men. Women also tend to become infected at younger ages than men (Decosas 1992; NACP:2-3). The government and the society as a whole has a duty to redress the situation by giving opportunities to these young women in engaging in productive activities. The AIDS Secretariat of the Ministry of Population and Health reports that in addition to the threat AIDS poses to women and children generally, the girl child is particularly threatened by it. Compared with boy child, the risk is higher for the girl child because she is most vulnerable to sexual abuse. Furthermore, according to the report, older men believe that young girls are AIDS-free, so they go for them and entice them with materials, luxuries and money. Hence the rise of incidence of HIV among girls compared with boys of the same age. While the rate of infection is slightly higher for boys in the age group 5 to 9, by the time the children reach the age of 10 to 14, the rate for girls, at 2%, is twice that of boys. By the time they have reached the 15 to 19 age group, the rate for girls is triple that of boys, at 6%. The situation might be compounded by these young girls entering the sex industry. Younger women, even those of school age, may trade sex for status of an older lover who can give her otherwise inaccessible goods or experiences such as taking meals in hotels. In some cases parents play a catalyst role. Roe states that "parents turn a blind eye to their daughters' activities, enjoying the small luxuries she is able to provide without discussing the means by which she obtains them" (1992). Some women, anxious for consumer goods themselves, encourage daughters into relationships with males (Alam et al.,1991:6). In other circumstances, a girl may start going with men because her parents cannot give her all she needs. Consequently, she goes to look for such things from men. Some studies have shown that there are several pressures on youth to engage in pre-marital sex which include pressure from same sex friends, pressure from opposite sex and financial needs. This pressure is strongest between ages of 15 and 20 years or after first menstruation for girls (E.Mc Auliffe,1994:70). Whilst the primary reason for engaging in pre-marital sex, identified by both males and females, is enjoyment, almost one quarter of the youth believe that youth engage in pre-marital sex for financial need. Of greater concern is high percentage of females (53.7 percent) who believe that youth engage in pre-marital sex in order
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to obtain money. If females are indeed engaged in pre-marital sex because of financial needs, they are unlikely to be in a position to insist on condom use in such relationships (E.Mc Auliffe; P.Ntata;1994:20). In Kenya Plumber et al., state that "the underlying cause of the sexual behaviours that surround prostitution are the social issues of poverty and the inequity of Womens' position in society" (1992). Many studies have been carried out targeting bar girls considered to be a high risk group for HIV/AIDS transmission. The emerging group of the so called freelancers, to which the majority of adolescent sex workers belong, is equally vulnerable. In fact the number of this group is growing very fast and very little is known about it. A very recent small study, carried out by a Regional Aids Coordinator in Blantyre, indicated a trend of commercial sex workers moving away from bars so as to earn more as free-lancers. This group prefers operating from within vicinity of hotels, where they hope to attract more prosperous clients (Kajawo 1995). In view of the prevailing situation and the current trend in the commercial sex work which is putting more and more adolescents at risk, there is a need to generate adequate information about the problem so as to come up with appropriate interventions. It was against this background that this study was conducted so as to shed light on: the extent of the phenomenon of adolescents exchanging sex for subsistence; the meaning of adolescents ideas and practices regarding the exchange of sex for subsistence: how adolescents view their own situation, how they perceive such practices, which risks they face, and possibilities for change they see for themselves; social acceptance of adolescent sex workers: how the society perceive such practices, which implications such practices have on the society, which possibilities for change the society see for adolescents. 1.2 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The broad objective of the study was to find out the socio-economic, cultural, and personal dynamics that influence adolescents engage in commercial sex work. Understanding the rationale behind this phenomenon would, among other things, help policy and programme makers in designing and initiating more effective interventions to protect the youth from the scourge of AIDS.

The specific objectives of the study were to investigate: backgrounds, problems and needs, benefits and risks among adolescent commercial sex workers; why older men go out with young girls; the role parents play in influencing their daughters to engage in sex work; social acceptance of adolescent sex workers. 1.3 METHODOLOGY

In order to conduct a study of this nature, it was necessary and imperative to utilise both the quantitative and the qualitative approaches in the designing of the data collecting tools, techniques of data collecting as well as in the analysis of the data. The first tasks involved the selection of the target sites, then the target groups and lastly organising training for the data collectors. 1.3.1 Target Sites There were two main target study areas, namely, Mzuzu and Salima. Mzuzu was chosen because very few studies targeting sex workers had been conducted in that city. Salima, on the other hand, was chosen because it has a resort area, army barracks, and a fishing industry and also many civil servants visit the area for workshops, seminars and conferences. In fact experiences from the field trips of data collecting, justified the choices as most appropriate and relevant in attaining the objectives of the study. 1.3.2 The target group for the study The nature of the study entailed the need for a wide range of target groups ranging from individual adolescent sex workers who were interviewed on their backgrounds, specific problems and needs, benefits and risks, and their relationships with their parents as well as neighbours. The eligible ones were those of ages between 12 and 20 years and comprised resident workers in bars, resthouses, restaurants as well as free-lancers. Resident adolescent CSWs were randomly selected from registered bars, bottlestores and resthouses and freelancers from an inventory of hotels, bars, and bottle-stores. In the case of resident CSWs, the target was on those who had stayed and worked at a given location

for a minimum of two months. Free lancers included those who had at least two paid customers per week.

The other group comprised older men who go out with adolescent sex workers. The term older men was coined and used in the study for those men who were perceived and observed to be customers to adolescent sex workers. Such men were those mostly on field trips, attending seminars, conferences, workshops, meetings, as well as businessmen in target sites. Also, older men were those mostly frequenting places such as bars, bootlestores, taverns, resthouses and hotels. This group was valuable in supplying information mainly regarding their participation in the commercial sex work, their awareness and practice of safe sex, their knowledge of CSWs including their activities, as well as their feelings about the practice. Parents, guardians, chiefs and teachers constituted another significant target group. Parents included uncles, aunts, grandmothers and grandfathers mostly from low income bracket not specifically related to those adolescent commercial sex workers covered under this study. An important factor for the selection of such parents was for them to have had under their guardianship adolescent girls. This group of parents was mostly drawn from low income families. The primary school teachers were equally important in this group because preliminary findings indicated that most of commercial sex workers (CSWs) reached standard 6, 7 and 8. Much as this was largely validated during the data collecting exercise, an effort was made to interview some secondary school teachers. Information gathered from this group included their knowledge and extent of commercial sex work within their areas, reasons for the practice, their views about the practice as well as their suggestions on how to contain the situation. Personnel of hotels, guest houses and bottle stores proved to be key informants on the activities and identification of CSWs. These included meat roasters, watchmen, bartenders, resthouse attendants and in some cases owners of the premises. Whereas some of the information sought from this group was similar to that from parents, they had more knowledge about the practice within their premises specifically on how the relationships between CSWs and their customers is established. During the data collecting process, it was realised upon advice from teachers that a focused group discussion with school pupils would be beneficial in shedding more light on how adolescents get lured into commercial sex work, their sex
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experiences including their understanding of HIV/AIDS. In Salima only girls were involved in such a discussion at Kambwiri Primary School as was the case at St Augustine Primary School in Mzuzu. However, at the other focused group discussion within Mzuzu, at Katoto Secondary School, there was a mixture of girls and boys. Other focused group discussions were conducted among commercial sex workers (CSWs), parents, teachers and chiefs. The questions which formed the basis for discussions in each of these groups were similar to those which were addressed during one-to-one interviews. As for the school pupils, an assortment of relevant questions designed for CSWs were used. The main purpose for the focused group discussions was to validate the information collected from individual interviews as well as to gather some extra information which could have been missed during previous interviews. In fact the group discussions proved to be very effective in provoking and soliciting diverse and very relevant information. An effort was also made to consult and discuss with organisations involved in support of the most vulnerable groups with a view to understanding the extent of their involvement in the sex education and rehabilitation of adolescent sex workers in accordance to their programmes. Discussions were, therefore, held with organisations such as Banja la Mtsogolo in Salima, the AIDS Secretariat, National Family Planning Council, EU AIDS Unit and JSI-STAFH Project. Apart from the information emanating from the discussions some of these organisations provided the researchers with important literature relevant to the study. The AIDS Secretariat and National Family Planning Council, in particular, as major implementors of programmes related to this study, were, in addition, instrumental in validating the relevance of this study. More information was further sourced from institutions involved in matters of youth and women such as Centre for Youth and Children Affairs. Most of these provided information which is relevant in addressing the problem of adolescent commercial sex workers particularly on documented causes contributing to the problem. 1.3.3 Data collection For data collection, the researchers used triangulation method. Triangulation method is the use of multiple methods to study a problem. It is an approach which combines multiple methods, measures, researchers, and perspective, for the following reasons: the various techniques complement each other and, therefore, the quality and richness of the data collected, is enhanced;
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it is a potential means to reduce biases; and to check more elaborately the validity of the data. In this study, a combination of methods was used including in-depth discussions/interviews, focus observations, in-depth discussions with keyinformants for the development of case studies, and a limited number of focus group discussions (FGDs). For investigator triangulation, which is the use of different researchers, the study used males and females as data collectors. The data collectors were deployed in the field. The pilot study which had been conducted prior to the main study acted as a reference source for the deployment of the data collectors. As for the informants, the study used sex workers, older men who go with adolescent sex workers, parents/guardians of adolescents, teachers, personnel of hotels, bottlestores, restaurants, resthouses and tavenns. To reduce selection biases for the in-depth interviews and FGDs with lowincome parents, the two study areas were divided into clusters. For practical reasons only two clusters among the low-income areas were randomly selected from each study area. The number of households in each cluster was, according to population size of the study area, also randomly selected. The researchers over-sampled so that eligible candidates who were absent at the time of the interview, could be replaced. Most researchers have indicated that high non-response cases, drop-outs, and refusal rates influence study results. For this reason, the research assistants were trained to record interviews accurately and where possible investigate the reasons of non-response. The approach on non-responses proved useful in shedding some light on important matters which could otherwise not have been addressed. The sample size was practical compromise between what was desirable and what was feasible within the available time, personnel, transport, and budget. The accuracy of the data collected was increased by providing adequate training of research assistants and their supervisors, by extensively pretesting the discussion guides, and by starting with a pilot phase before the actual study took off, rather than increasing our sample size. Eight weeks were spent for data collection in the field covering two research areas. This meant that on average the data collecting team spent two weeks in each study area. The whole group as a team worked in Salima first before moving to Mzuzu. In so doing, supervision was easily and efficiently conducted. Likewise the management of the study was quite effective in that relevant issues to the study were discussed together as a team and problems analysed as the field work progressed.

In-depth Interviews/Discussions In-depth discussions/interviews, resembled more of day-day conversations and had, therefore, a high degree of flexibility in timing and order in which the open questions were asked. The main guide were the themes under which the questions appeared within the questionnaire. In other words, whereas overlapping of some questions occurred, at least the bulk of questions within a given theme had to be exhausted before moving to the next theme. All the interviewing sessions were, with permission of the informants, recorded. The assistants interviewed the informant at least 2-3 times, each session lasting 30 minutes. This was to check the accuracy, consistency, and completeness of the data. Two-three interviews were done mainly to sex workers, parents and men. As for teachers and personnel, only one interview was enough. As far as sex workers and men informants were concerned, the assistants had to closely observe the informant and her/his surrounding before, during, and after discussions and had to add those observations to their ethnographic fieldnotes. Participant observation was used as an essential tool to understand the context of what informants said during interviews. Observations also served as a source of inspiration and facilitated an entry point for initiating a conversation on what had already been observed. It also facilitated cross-checking for consistency and for assessing the quality and completeness of data that informants provided. Each field assistant covered an average of a single interview per day. The process involved tracing their informant, conducting observation of the subject before arranging for the interview. The next step involved tape recording the informant during the interview session, thereafter the recording had to be transcribed and almost simultaneously ethnographic fieldnotes were written. The daily reports had to be submitted to the supervisor including conducting a debriefing with him about the daily impressions, experiences, feelings and insights gained. All these activities were enough to occupy a field assistant for the whole day and as such it was possible to ensure recording quality data by focusing on a single informant per day as far as in-depth interviews were concerned. In the process of data collection field assistants were encouraged to be as detailed and as honest as possible. They were not supposed to edit the data. They could only polish up their handwriting for easy reading. For them to be able to do this in a disciplined and satisfactionary manner, they had to believe in the approach and be intensively supervised.

Case studies Case studies were developed out of key-informants who were proven to have provided relevant information during their first in-depth interviews. They were intentionally selected for their qualities such as self expression, interest in the research topic, motivated to share information, and having time to their disposal. Developing case studies of key-informants was in ensuring that the information informants had provided was relatively more complete. The different categories of research assistants of males, and females developed cases with particular informants. Males developed cases mainly with sex workers as well as hotel personnel. Likewise females developed cases mainly with parents/teachers and with older men. The field assistants were required to develop at least two cases with the informants. Each field assistant had to conduct one interview a day lasting 30-60 minutes in a language the informant was conversant with using tape recorders and later transcribed into English. They were only five case studies where informants refused to be taped for fear that the information would be broadcast on the radio. However, due to the quality of the information, the interviews from the five informants were recorded on paper as case studies. Case studies with the key-informants were developed in the following order: In Salima: 27 cases with sex workers 9 with parents, guardians and teachers 8 with older men 5 with personnel in hotels, resthouses and bottlestores

In Mzuzu 24 with sex workers 16 with parents, guardians and teachers 6 with older men 6 with personnel in hotels, resthouses and bottlestores

The whole data collecting exercise in Salima and Mzuzu provided a total of 101 case studies which were grouped into 51 CSWs, 25 parents, guardians and teachers (PGT), 14 older men (OD) and 11 personnel in hotels, resthouses and bottlestores (HRB). The total number of these case studies, as already indicated, was chosen in the field based on the quality data that they provided. In other

words, the actual number of informants contacted for in-depth interviews was much larger than this. Case studies emanating from in-depth interviews just as was the case with other forms of interviews, were drawn from a wide area within Salima and Mzuzu. In Salima, field assistants met their informants within Salima town particularly in bottlestores and resthouses along Kamuzu Road, Msangu area, Kaphatenga area and partly away from town at Senga-Bay, Chipoka and Lifuwu. In Mzuzu, informants were identified in bottlestores and resthouses at the old town, Chibavi, Luwinga,Chimaliro and out of town at Ekwendeni. Focus Group Discussions According to the original study design, Focus Group Discussions were to be conducted with sex workers and parents/teachers only. However, during the course of the study changes were made through the advice from teachers and other informants and as such FGDs were also conducted with school pupils, both primary and secondary schools as well as among chiefs. The focus group discussion with the chiefs took place only in Salima within the Traditional Authority Kalonga near Salima Boma. In Mzuzu, the arrangements to conduct a focus group discussion with chiefs were made but it could not take place due to reasons beyond the control of the researchers. A total of eight focus group discussions were conducted during the field study. FGDs conducted in Salima were four, including one with commercial sex workers, one with parents, one with primary school pupils, and one with the chiefs. In Mzuzu, the FGDs conducted were also four, including one with commercial sex workers, two with school pupils at Katoto Secondary School and St. Augustine Primary School, and one with parents. The informants who participated in the focus group discussions of commercial sex workers and parents, were those who had initially been interviewed in the one-to-one interviews and had shown high degree of interest in the research topic and were willing to share information. Each FGD had 4 - 10 participants, with a facilitator and one recorder. The researchers had to over-sample to ensure reaching this number. The field assistants had to ensure that the whole discussion was properly recorded on audio-cassettes. Transcribing the recordings into texts was done by both the facilitator and the recorder.

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1.3.4 The Questionnaire The questionnaire which appears in the appendix of this report was the main tool used in the field for data collecting. Apart from the demographic information sought in sections one and two, all the questions were open ended. A total of 79 open-ended questions were administered to the research subjects. Of these, 44 were administered to CSWs, 10 to parents, guardians and teachers, 11 to personnel in hotels, resthouses and bottlestores and lastly 14 to older men. The 44 questions administered to CSWs were grouped under four themes, namely, Environment and Experiences of a sex worker, Awareness, Behaviour, Expectations and Socio-cultural Aspects. Almost an equal number of questions appeared under each theme. These thematic areas were designed in such a way that they formed a common denominator for a group of questions assigned to each. For instance, questions appearing under the theme Awareness, sought information on CSWs understanding of HIV/AIDS and STDs. Likewise, the theme Behaviour, addressed mainly issues of safe sex and the informants general conduct in matters of sex. The themes and the actual questions administered to the informants captured the expectations set in the objectives. The logical sequence with which they were administered further facilitated the conducting of a natural conversation in case of the individual interviews and for the FGDs, discussions were made easier and effective. Although questions targeting other informants apart from CSWs were not grouped according to themes, the general focus for these questions was to seek information on the informants knowledge, awareness, experiences, attitudes, concerns as well as suggestions regarding the subject under study. For instance, some questions directed to parents, guardians and teachers aimed at enlisting the informants understanding of the extent of the problem of commercial sex work, reasons for the existence of the practice and their feelings about it. Those directed to older men, primarily focused on soliciting information regarding their participation in the practice, reasons including their views and practice of safe sex. 1.3.5 The Pilot study The initial data collection was conducted during the pilot study of one week prior to the actual data collection process in the main study. The whole exercise of the pilot data collection was conducted at Likuni within the Chigwirizano area in Lilongwe. During this trial run, a preliminary study was carried out and the information obtained was used to primarily evaluate the following:

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1.

Informants' reactions to the research procedures: availability of eligible informants e.g. day of the week, time of the day, meeting place; acceptability of topic and methods of study by informants; acceptability of questions asked; willingness of informants to participate in study.

2.

Quality of data tools: whether, with the available tools, the data could be adequately collected, recorded and filed as planned; whether or not the data collected was of an acceptable standard in terms of relevance, validity, and reliability of information obtained with the available instruments and in accordance with the expectations of the study; time needed to conduct observations and to make field notes, to have an ethnographic in-depth interview or FDG, and to transcribe them literally; need to revise format of interview/FDG schedules regarding logical sequence of questions, unambiguity of questions, accurate translations and guidelines for probing; functioning of cassette-recorders, cassettes, and batteries.

2.

Sampling procedures were used to determine: the level of sampling standardisation by field assistant; the time needed to locate eligible informants.

3.

Management of the research team and the data collection process aimed at establishing: the quality of field assistants' training, support, and supervision in the field; the quality of field assistants' work; the quality of logical support, including transportation; the level of collaboration and team spirit of the research team; a guarantee of confidentiality of information during all stages of study; the quality control for completeness and internal consistency: editing, sorting, processing, analysing, and reporting of data.
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The pilot study was an essential step in our study because information collected during this pilot phase was analysed and necessary adjustments were made before commencement of the actual study. At this stage, potential shortcomings and other problems in the proposed study design, training and supervision of field assistants were addressed. Also, the pilot study assisted in the establishment of a preliminary data analysis framework. 1.3.5 Data Analysis The data was analyzed using Microsoft Access and Microsoft word for the demographic and qualitative data respectively. For the demographic data, a Database was created on the basis of age; education; time spent in the business; places of origin; ethnicity; religion, etc. Qualitative data of CSWs was analyzed by grouping the descriptive data according to the main themes within the questionnaire which included environment and experiences of CSWs, awareness, behaviour, and expectations and socio-cultural aspects of CSWs, and patterns were established for each theme. Qualitative data gathered from other research subjects was analyzed through grouping the information into major areas of focus such as their knowledge and extent of commercial sex work within their areas, reasons for the practice, their views about the practice as well as their suggestions on how to contain the situation. For the purpose of easy recording and reference to the analysed qualitative data, the information was intelligibly annotated into specific patterns. In so doing, some of the patterns which emerged as a result of such analysis could easily be interpreted qualitatively as well as quantitatively. In fact within some patterns, sub-patterns were identified. In qualitative research the researcher is the major instrument. To describe our sample population as well as conditions under which the data was collected, the researchers had to use contextual information provided by the field assistants. Such information, in addition to the actual recordings from the informants, was useful in the selection of representative cases based on specific experiences of the research subjects which were identified to be characteristic of wider sample patterns. In this report, attention is not only given to wider patterns but also to isolated cases in order shed some light on peculiar experiences as well. Therefore, a diversity of representative cases has been used to discuss the subject of this study.

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2.0 FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 2.1 Demographic Information Demographic information presented in this chapter is that of commercial sex workers only. This is the case because CSWs constitute the central focus of this study whereas other informants were useful in providing valuable information for better understanding of the CSWs and their activities. Attention is, therefore given to the CSWs domains of age, origin, guardians/parents occupation, level of education, religion, duration in the business and possession of children. 2.1.1 Commercial Sex Workers Table 1a and 1b below, show the ages and duration in the business for CSWs in Salima and Mzuzu respectively. According to the findings demonstrated in both tables, the maximum period that adolescent Table 1a: Age Distribution of CSWs in Salima and their Duration in Business
S/N 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Mean Total AGE 13 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 18.7 CSWs 1 1 1 1 5 7 9 2 27 DURATION IN BUSINESS 3-6 months 7-12 months 13-24 months 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 2 3 0 3 4 0 5 1 2 1 1 0 15 (55.6%) 9 (33.3%) 2 (7.4%) 25-36 months 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 (3.7%)

CSWs had stayed in the business was three years. In other words, most adolescent CSWs are initiated into the business during their middle adolescent age. As such, it is not surprising that the biggest number of adolescents encountered during the field study were within the bracket age of 17 and 20. In fact the data in both tables for Salima and Mzuzu shows that over 60% of the CSWs had been in the business for the period between 3 and 12 months. For Salima the figure is much higher, at 88.9%, whereas for Mzuzu is at 62.5%. The difference between the two study areas is less significant considering that
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most of the CSWs are very mobile, especially the free lancers, and might have considered their duration in the business and their stay within the respective study areas as synonymous. Table 1b: Age Distribution of CSWs in Mzuzu and their Duration in Business
S/N 1 2 3 4 5 6 Mean Total AGE 16 17 18 19 20 21 18.8 CSWs 3 3 3 6 6 3 24 DURATION IN BUSINESS 3-6 months 6-12 months 12-24 months 2 1 0 2 1 0 1 1 1 1 2 2 1 3 2 0 0 0 7 (29.2%) 8 (33.3%) 5 (20.8%) 24-36 months 0 0 0 1 0 3 4 (16.7%)

Since the majority of CSWs in Salima and Mzuzu are between the age of 17 and 20, it is natural that the average age for both study areas is 18. However, the age range for Salima was 13 to 20, whereas in Mzuzu it was 16 to 20. This difference was also markedly reflected in their educational levels as presented in table 2. For instance, CSWs in lower primary school in Salima constituted 33.3%, whereas in Mzuzu it was 8.3%. Likewise, those who had attained upper primary education in Salima represented only 29.6% compared with 62.5% in Mzuzu. This difference confirms and corresponds to the observations made in the schools visited in both study areas. In Salima, there was a conspicuous imbalance between the number of boys and girls presence in favour of the former in the upper classes. In some classes there were only 5 girls in a class of 40 pupils! The schools visited in Mzuzu, girls and boys were almost equally represented in all classes. Teachers interviewed in Salima complained of the high rate of drop-outs among girls. Table 2: Distribution in Terms of Education Among CSWs
LEVEL OF EDUCATION CSWs 2 9 8 8 0 27 Salima Percentage 7.5% 33.3% 29.6% 29.6% 0.0% 100.0% CSWs 1 2 15 6 0 24 Mzuzu Percentage 4.2% 8.3% 62.5% 25.0% 0.0% 100.0%

None Lower primary, Standard 1-4 Upper primary, Standard 5-8 Secondary College Total

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Generally, the levels of education among CSWs shown in table 2 are relatively on the low side. In fact the actual number of those who completed standard eight is very small. For instance, according to the analysed data, only 2 in Salima and 6 in Mzuzu had reached standard eight. All of these are grouped among those who attained upper primary education in the table above. Apart from two in Salima and one in Mzuzu, the rest of the CSWs had at least some form of primary education and even secondary education. The table shows 29.6% and 25% for Salima and Mzuzu respectively had received some secondary education. Of these, none had reached form four with exception of two who were still continuing with school at the time of the study. Some primary school teachers interviewed in Salima attributed the high rate of dropouts in their schools to some customery practices which initiate girls into adulthood at a very tender age. They claimed that soon after such ceremonies they experience high rates of drop-outs either through marriages or pregnancies. This claim was confirmed by some CSWs who indicated that they resorted to the business soon after falling victim to early pregnancies and broken marriages. Some of the interviewed CSWs who had attained some secondary school education and a few of those who had completed primary school, claimed to have had access to foreign customers whereas most of the rest did not and felt they could not effectively establish contacts with foreigners mainly due to language barrier. It was probably partly due to this, that most of those interviewed wished they had gone further with their education. In fact, at the time of the study, two CSWs in Salima were paying school fees for their own education from income accrued through the business. Table 3a: Origin and Ethnicity Distribution Among CSWs in Salima
S/N CSWs HOME DISTRICT Chewa 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. Total 1 2 2 1 1 2 1 8 8 1 27 Balaka Dedza Karonga Kasungu Machinga Mangochi Nkhotakota Ntcheu Salima Zomba Yao 1 ETHNICITY Tumbuka Ngoni 2 2 1 1 2 1 1 5 7 2 3 9 2 5 1 1 Tonga Manganja

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Tables 3a above and 3b below, show a wide distribution of CSWs according to their places of origin and ethnic backgrounds. According to the data, the 51 CSWs interviewed from the two study areas originated from as many as 17 districts from a total of the present 26 districts in the country. This is adequate proof that the problem of exchanging sex for money is not localized but rather wide spread. However, most of the CSWs came from either within the study areas or neighbouring districts. For instance, more than 50% of those in Salima originated from within the district including Ntcheu. It is, therefore, not surprising that according to the data, the dominant ethnic CSW groups in Salima are Chewa, Yao and Ngoni (from Ntcheu and Dedza). Similarly, Mzimba, NkhataBay and Rumphi accounted for the origin of more than 50% of the practicing CSWs in Mzuzu and hence the majority presence of Ngonis, Tumbukas and Tongas. Apart from those whose ethnic origin was from within the districts of the study areas and adjacent districts, a significant number of CSWs were of diverse ethnic backgrounds from distant districts specifically for the business such as Tumbukas, Tongas and Manganjas in Salima and Lomwes, Chewas and Yaos in Mzuzu. Table 3b: Origin and Ethnicity Distribution Among CSWs in Mzuzu
S/N CSWs HOME DISTRICT Blantyre Chitipa Kasungu Lilongwe Mulanje Mzimba NkhataBay Rumphi Chewa Yao 1 1 1 2 1 2 4 4 2 3 6 5 3 4 ETHNICITY Tumbuka 1 1 3 4 Tonga Lomwe Ngoni

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Total

2 1 2 2 4 6 4 3 24

Information gathered from most of those CSWs who came from distant places to the study areas indicated that the search for lucrative markets for customers was not the only reason for their trekking over such long distances. Amongst them there were many cases of those who had run away from their homes and over 95% of them admitted that their parents including close relatives were ignorant of what they were actually doing. As such, the distant places where they were found conducting the business were in effect convenient hiding
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places as well. Most of these CSWs camouflaged from their close relations their actual business by claiming that they were employed in restaurants whilst in actual fact some were working in bottlestores and at the same time practicing commercial sex work and others were full time free lancer CSWs. Table 4 below clearly shows an overwhelming number of adolescent CSWs living alone in both study areas. Whereas in Salima 21 CSWs representing 77.8% of the total sample in the area indicated that they were living alone, in Mzuzu there were 15 CSWs constituting a significant 62.5% of the total number living alone. The CSWs living alone, can be grouped into three. There were those who were resident at their places of work such as bottlestores, taverns and resthouses. Another group was that of CSWs who operated from rented houses particularly free lancers. Other free lancers were those who operated from rented rooms in resthouses, significantly present in Salima. Reasons identified from the findings for most CSWs living alone, ranged from long distances from their homes to need for privacy to conduct their business. Even those who originated from the same study districts had to migrate from their respective villages to urban areas for the same reason. A few were found to be orphans who had no one to look after them in their home villages. Table 4: CSWs and their Relations they were Living with at the time of the Study
S/N LIVE WITH No. 21 2 1 3 27 CSWs Salima Percentage 77.8% 7.4% 3.7% 11.1% 100.0% No. 15 2 5 1 1 24 Mzuzu Percentage 62.5% 8.3% 20.8% 4.2% 4.2% 100.0%

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Total

Alone Grandmother Mother Sister Aunt

From table 4, it can also be observed that the remaining few who lived with close relatives, either lived with grandmothers, sisters, or aunts only 4 with mothers but none with both parents. The available data shows that most CSWs came from broken marriages, broken families and some had one or both parents dead. For instance, according to Table 5 below, in Salima alone 51.8% of the interviewed CSWs either had both parents dead or one. Those with at least a single parent living had difficulties staying with their step mothers/fathers after their surviving parents had remarried. As such their predicament was no better than those from broken homes as a result of divorced parents whose adolescent
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CSWs represent 14.8% in Salima. The situation in Mzuzu was slightly different considering that the findings did not come up with any CSW who had lost both parents. However, what was significant in Mzuzu was the high percentage of CSWs from their own broken marriages (29.2%). Most of those in this category including those who had lost parents in Mzuzu as well as Salima, attributed such sad experiences as reasons which Table 5: CSWs Reasons for not Living with both Parents
Reasons for not living with both parents S/n 1. 2. 3. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Total Salima No. of CSWs % 4 14.8% 10 37.0% 4 14.8% 2 7.4% 4 14.8% 2 7.4% 1 3.8% 27 100.0% Mzuzu No. of CSWs % 0 0.0% 7 29.2% 4 16.7% 7 29.2% 2 8.3% 2 8.3% 1 4.2% 1 4.2% 24 100.0%

Both parents deceased One parent deceased Parents divorced CSW divorced Ran away from home Search for employment Husband died Parents away

pushed them into the commercial sex industry. The main problem in such cases was not only social but also economic. The economic aspect as a major problem forcing adolescents into the business, seems to be the underlining factor for almost all categories represented in the table including those who had ran away from their homes, those who had lost their husbands and conspicuously those who had moved into urban areas specifically in search of employment. Economic problems as a major factor for the growing number of adolescent CSWs was also cited by other informants in the study including older men, teachers, chiefs and parents. Most of the CSWs interviewed including those who had lost their parents as well as those with parents/guardians came from a background of overwhelmingly low income families. The majority of their parents were or had been dependent on subsistence farming. Others were involved in some petty businesses or low paying jobs such as watchmen, waiters, typists, etc. It is some of these low income earning parents/guardians who are made to shoulder the burden of living with the children of those CSWs who are incapable of taking care of their own children. Out of 18 CSWs with children in both Salima and Mzuzu, only 5 indicated that they were living with their own children.

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2.2 Commercial Sex Workers Perspective The major issues concerning CSWs in this study include their needs, benefits in the business, risks involved, practices regarding the exchange of sex for subsistence, how they view their own situation, which possibilities for change they see for themselves and their social acceptance. On most of these issues, a general picture could be made emanating from their responses but there was also some diverse and equally significant information on some of the issues. As already implied, the immediate benefits that almost all the CSWs indicated were to do with fulfilling their economic needs. This is in line with their overriding economic reasons which pushed them into the business. Some of them were not only supporting themselves out of sex work but also taking care of some of their relatives such as grandmothers, young sisters and their children. There are those who had even started some petty businesses out of the money accrued from sex work. A few in Mzuzu had built some shelters for themselves and two in Salima were paying school fees for their own education at the time of the study. Those employed as barmaids, waiters and hairdressers indicated that the business supplemented their meager incomes. The majority of the CSWs interviewed on whether they were satisfied with their business responded negatively for a number of reasons as shown in table 6 below. The common response was that of lack of an alternative means of income, specifically given by 20 CSW who indicated poverty as reason for continuing with their business. In addition, they were not satisfied with the business because some felt ashamed of it since, according to them, it was not a respectable job, some called it a dirty job and there were those who felt lots of risks were involved. In contrast, at least 9 and 2 CSWs in Salima and Mzuzu respectively were unapologetic about their business and confidently responded in affirmative. In fact most of these indicated that they were not only happy with their job but it also had a lot of fun besides fulfilling their economic needs. A few preferred not to give their views on this question or some simply said they were not sure about the reasons but felt they were not satisfied. One CSW in Salima was recorded on tape crying while attempting to narrate her experiences which led her into sex work.

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Table 6: CSWs Reasons for not being Satisfied with sex work
Area Salima Mzuzu Total risky job 2 5 7 Not respectable, Due to poverty dirty job 5 10 3 9 8 20 no reason given 1 2 3 Total 19(66.7%) 19(79.2%) 38(74.5%, n=51 )

Considering that those who indicated dissatisfaction with sex work amounted to 74.5% of the total sample of those interviewed in Salima and Mzuzu, it is evident that awareness against the business is overwhelming. This position accounts for the discreet nature under which most CSWs conduct their business by ensuring that their close relatives are kept ignorant about their activities as explained in 2.1.1. Even those that their close relatives knew about their activities, almost all the CSWs interviewed responded that their relatives did not approve of their business. Those who were living in rented houses were resented by their neighbours, particularly women who suspected that they were sleeping with their husbands. In addition, the disapproval of the various institutions of faith to which all the CSWs belonged, adds up to the communities resentment of the business which made almost all of those interviewed, except one, concerned. Although the risky nature of the business was cited by only 7 out of the total number of those interviewed, a majority of the CSWs when asked about the problems they encountered in the course of conducting their business, they narrated a wide range of risky experiences that they went through. The common problems include the following: beatings for refusing to offer sexual services to men who had earlier entertained them expecting to be entertained in return. This, it was claimed, was a common experience from young men including soldiers in Salima and Mzuzu; beatings and rape resulting from demanding for the use of condoms by CSWs; refusal to pay after receiving sexual services, often this is followed by beatings and grabbing whatever money might have been given to the CSW in advance; exposure to unsafe sex by some older men who prefer sex without condoms;

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frequent arrests by police and court charges as vagabonds. Of those interviewed, at least 16 had at least once or twice been arrested; the fear of having to move during night times in the face of rape, harassment, beatings and robbery; confrontation, sometimes physical, with older CSWs in the struggle for the limited number of customers. The older CSWs resented the adolescent ones because they seemed to attract more customers. In spite of all the risks involved, the CSWs interviewed still felt they had to continue with their business because they were trapped in a vicious circle of having to fulfill their daily needs. These included paying for rents, buying their daily provisions of food stuffs, buying clothes, soap including cosmetics to maintain themselves in the business and sometimes providing support to their old grand parents. In monetary terms, the average income in Salima ranged between K50 to K100 per single sexual experience whereas an average range of K150 to K200 was charged for overnight services. The differences were due to variations in status based on areas of operation. For instance, those operating at and around chibuku taverns tended to charge less than those in bottlestores and hotels. In Mzuzu, the charges were slightly higher at between K100 and K150 per single sexual experience whereas an average range of K200 to K250 was charged for an overnight experience. Some boasted of receiving up to K800 per single night. In order to maintain a steady income, one had to offer her sexual services to an average of 8 customers per week according to the findings in both study areas. The CSWs indicated that short time services were more beneficial in terms of income than overnight services because it is possible to serve a number of customers within a day. A few disclosed that they charged more for customers who insisted on sex without a condom. There are a lot of skills and tricks applied in the course of CSWs conducting their daily business which the study attempted to establish in order to fully understand and appreciate the circumstances surrounding the sex work. The activities involve identification of a customer, establishing a relationship, deciding on the place for the provision of their services and eventually getting paid. All the CSWs disclosed that it was crucial to dress seductively in order to attract potential customers. This was observed in their miniskirts, tight trousers, dresses with long slits, bare-back and transparent dresses, short tight trousers, etc. They also have to wear sharp perfumes, lipsticks, painted nails etc; to supplement their clothes. The appearance resulting from all this would often automatically seduce a potential customer into establishing a relationship by initiating a conversation, offering a drink and sometimes inviting the CSW for a dance depending on the situation. Some of the CSWs indicated that at times they would initiate contacts by engaging men first through a greeting and then
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a casual conversation which would ultimately lead to a sexual experience. Those with rooms in resthouses preferred taking men to such places, otherwise the decision on where to go was mutually made. Other places where the business would be conducted include hotels, rented houses and sometimes in vehicles. After the services, a customer would normally pay what was considered reasonable amount by the CSW otherwise she would complain and demand for more. In some cases either the money transaction was settled before the services or at least an agreement on the charge was made in advance. Advance payment was mostly insisted on young customers because based on experience proved to be uncooperative once given the services. For this reason, most CSWs preferred middle-aged men who paid sometimes handsomely without a fuss. Another reason for this preference was that older men, unlike the young, were less sexually demanding and hence easy to satisfy. All the activities leading to the money/sex transaction are mostly conducted during night times and very occasionally during day times. The activities involving identification of customers are not without difficulties. Most CSWs disclosed that at times it is very hard to get customers depending on money seasons such as during middle-months when most men are without enough disposable income. They are also negatively affected in terms of lack of income during their menstruation periods as well as when they fall sick. Sometimes, out of miscalculation, when attempting to seduce perceived potential customers they get embarrassing rebuffs. CSWs in Mzuzu indicated that it is hard to get customers during chilly nights since most men remain indoors. 2.2.1 Focus Group Discussions For CSWs A lot of information was gathered through focus group discussions (FGDs) particularly on their behaviour and awareness. This was possible partly because such discussions were conducted in a relatively more relaxed atmosphere whereby a natural guided discussion was provoked. The conversations in FGDs, unlike in the individual interviewed allowed for arguments which were eventually settled by agreeing on a particular issue. Some of the text excerpts from conversations emanating from such FGDs are presented below on some topical issues: Text 1: FGD at Mzuzu
Q 1: Is there a difference between using a condom and not using it?

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CSW 1:

Yes, with a condom you feel good but there is another part which is incomplete, you dont get all the satisfaction. I enjoy sex when a man does it without a condom. When a man has put on a condom and is not well fitted, it causes pain inside me and instead of enjoying sex, I feel pain. Yes, I was once married but I would say that there is a slight difference. I feel the same with a condom especially when you start with zogwiranagwirana (romance or fore-play), and if you are using a single condom. A condom has an advantage because you can sleep with many men within a day one after another without any of the men depositing sperms in you. And therefore each time you are left clean. Yes, I like sex with a condom because it adds a protruding tip to penis of a man which touches me well inside. We meet customers with different sizes. I had a man from Karonga three days ago. He first wanted to have anal sex because he felt that his penis couldnt penetrate my vagina due to my age. I refused, The man produced K300 and we then made sex using a condom. Thereafter, I could not walk well because the big penis had injured my inside. You see, we meet many things. These men with big penises use drugs to enlarge their organs.

CSW 2:

CSW 3:

CSW 4:

Q 2:

What risks do you face in your work? We run the risk of contracting diseases such as chizonono, chindoko and mabomu. We can also contract AIDS. Have you ever contracted any of the STDs. I once contracted mabomu at first I didnt know what it was. I experienced swellings on the private part, I went to see a doctor here in Mzuzu who treated me. Since then (1997) I have never contracted any. Yes, I once contracted mabomu and this was last year (1997) when I just started commercial sex work. I went to see a doctor in Ekwendeni who treated me but I still have a scar.

CSW 1:

CSW 2: Q 3: CSW 3:

CSW 2:

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Q 4:

What is the most deadly STD? and how is it transmitted? AIDS is the most deadly disease. It is spread through chiwerewere (promiscuity). Once you get it, you should know that you are going to die (ni ulendo basi). This disease, AIDS, is transmitted through what we are doing njira zathu zoyendayenda zomwezi. We are found in the bottlestore; today we go and sleep with somebody, tomorrow it will be another customer. Sometimes we accept to sleep with school boys. These school boys ndi ana (are kids); they are young but we take them to bed. We often dont use condoms with such boys - we pretend to them that we also just completed school and are still clean and innocent. Some other customers are ready to pay K1000 so that you have sex with them plain. Apart from plain sex, the other way through which HIV/AIDS can be transmitted is through sharing the same razor blade. Yes, you can get HIV through kissing. Some other customers can use condoms but they would first do romancing such as kissing. Sometimes you meet customers who want you to suck their penis. This practice is mostly liked by Indians and white men. And through this you caalso contract AIDS. Most of the times older men do take us to bed not for sex but only romancing, kissingand maybe putting their penis in the mouth. AIDS can also be transmitted through sharing toothbrushes. I once had oral sex in Kasungu because I loved the man. This man gave me K1500, moreover, this man was my boyfriend. The man could offer me support and he once drove me from Kasungu right toMzuzu. (when asked if she had any problems with sucking the penis and whether she could do it again, she said), No I had no problem at all and I can do it again so long I loved the man; It is my work.

CSW 1:

CSW 2:

CSW 4:

CSW 3:

The full recording of an FGD in Mzuzu lasted for almost two hours covering all the four themes as those covered in the individual interviews. Four CSWs participated in this FGD by providing very relevant information which to a large extent validated the information obtained from the individual interviews

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in which all of them had taken part. For instance, on the use of condoms, they supplied more in-depth experiences. They disclosed that they often use condoms but there are times when you really love the man, and on sensing that the man is likely to pay handsomely; you can accept having sex without a condom. This is done more often when drunk than when sober. Not every hule (prostitute) is paid thousands of kwachas to have sex without a condom One said. She went on to say that it is sometimes done free or given only K50. The CSW 2 went on to say, Most of us girls operating in old town, so many times we have had forced sex with the soldiers free and without using a condom. They further indicated that it is common to have plain sex with their boyfriends. A number of lessons can be learned from the Text 1 concerning CSWs awareness about their activities pertaining to risks in particular as well as their actual practices. As for their awareness about the dangers of contracting STDs including HIV/AIDS, they have a relatively adequate understanding of how their business makes them readily vulnerable to contracting the diseases. For instance CSW 1 clearly says that the most deadly STD is AIDS and that once one contracts it there is no cure. They are fully aware that safe sex can be practiced through the use of a condom. They also have a fare understanding of other means of transmitting HIV/AIDS which they said include sharing of razor blades, toothbrushes and through kissing. However, some of their revelations regarding their behavioural experiences contradict their level of awareness. For instance, all the CSWs in the FGD disclosed that they often sleep with their boyfriends without condoms. Sometimes they cannot resist the money temptation when the condition is to provide sexual services without a condom. It seems the tendency is as simply put by CSW 3; Yes, I would do it again, it is my work. Similar information was sought from Salima through a focused group discussion. Information obtained from the discussion was fully recorded as it partly appears in the Text 2 excerpt presented below. Text 2: FGD at Salima
Q 1: How many customers are you able to entertain per a day? I am able to entertain two customers per day. I can entertain up to four depending on how strong I am. How are you able to handle all those customers? Dont you get tired?

CSW 1: CSW 2: Q 2:

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CSW 2:

Yes, I get tired because it is work. One has to get tired when working. No, I dont get tired. Using condoms does not make one tired. The condom prevents sperms from entering into my vagina and hence I dont get tired. Have you ever heard of AIDS? Yes, I have heard of AIDS and that it is a deadly disease. Yes, I have heard about it and that it is transmitted through chiwerewere, especially when you do it without a condom. You can also get AIDS through sharing of underpants because when you put on pants, it comes into contact with the vagina and therefore you can get it if the one you borrowed from has got AIDS. It also depends on the length of time that you have been exchanging the underpants. What was the source of the information about AIDS? I heard from the radio and hospital. I heard through radio, hospital and watching drama performed by Banja la Mtsogolo. Through drama, I learned how AIDS can be prevented; like by using condoms; not sharing razor blades; tooth brushes and needles used to puncture ears. Have you ever contracted STDs? I have never contracted any STD but I dont know whether I have AIDS. I have never contracted any though I cant say whether I have AIDS. I might have contracted AIDS because some men deliberately perforate condoms. I think such men know they have STDs including AIDS and they do it to deliberately spread the diseases. And sometimes condoms burst and it is therefore prudent to use two at a time. What sort of problems do you meet when conducting your business? Some men refuse to pay us and we sometimes have to lock the door and snatch their shoes. Some men beat us. We are beaten when we refuse them. Some men pay us and after entertaining them they demand their money back or steal

CSW 4:

Q 3: CSW 5: CSW 2:

Q 4: CSW 3: CSW 2:

Q 5: CSW 2:

CSW 5:

Q 6:

CSW 1:

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from you when you are still asleep. One day I went with a man into a room and had to lock a door and hide the key to prevent him from escaping. The trick worked, and I do it whenever I suspect a customer. CSW 3: I was once severely beaten and was bed ridden for a whole week. It happened when I was demanding payment to a customer who was refusing to pay after an overnight entertainment.You see, he got free services and beat me at the same time! Our work is dangerous but not that much. We are like thieves who are ready for any eventuality. We are sometimes get arrested on rogue and vagabond charges. Some men burn our private parts due to jealousy. Some even rape us. Policemen who are our lovers sometimes fake charges on us and get us arrested. If I find a man to me I will stop prostitution and settle down. Three days ago I hooked a man with a lot of money; the older women (CSWs) became jealousy and snatched him from me. After snatching my man they followed me into the toilet and beat me up mercilessly. You see, these older women are dangerous. Sometimes customers are hard to find and you can stay for days without money to buy enough food. Sometimes you fall sick or during menstruation and you simply cant get a man.

CSW 2:

marry CSW 5:

CSW 6:

A total of six CSWs participated in the FGD in Salima. As in the Mzuzu FGD, the questions for the discussion focused on all the areas including the ones above which target on the frequency of sexual acts with customers, awareness of STDs including AIDS and day to day problems which CSWs encounter when conducting their business. From the above FGD, it is seems that it is the availability of customers that generally determines the number of men that a CSW entertains per day as well as time and the sexual capability of an individual CSW. For instance, CSW 2 said that she could entertain up to four depending on how strong she was. It is obvious also that most of the CSWs who are employed can only do sex work after their official working hours or when chances arise in between unlike the free lancers who budget their own time. The average rate of the number of customers that a CSW meets per day or any period of time, provides a clue on the potential rate of the spread of STDs in instances where safe sex is not practiced.

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CSWs in the Salima FGD were equally aware of the dangers of STDs including HIV/AIDS. Also were aware of the fact that their business readily exposed them to the deadly disease AIDS. In the longer recording of their conversation, they insisted on the need to use two condoms and that they did not trust condoms supplied by customers for fear that they could be deliberately perforated. In some occasions they claimed to insist on assisting their men in putting on the condoms. CSW 5 said, I might have contracted AIDS because some men deliberately perforate condoms Unfortunately, like their counterparts, there is no evidence in their sexual experience to suggest that their practices are consistent with their level of awareness. In fact, to the contrary, they also indicated having sex without condoms on several occasions with their boyfriends and as victims of forced sexual intercourse. The CSWs in both Salima and Mzuzu FGDs as well as during individual interviews, discussed a number of problems that they are exposed to when conducting their business. Those cited in Text 2 include rape, beatings, frequent arrests, unfair competition from older CSWs, seasonal scarcity of customers and refusal to pay for services by some customers. Against the background of all these problems, it is not surprising that most, such as CSW 2 in Text 2, wished they could get married and settle down. According to the available data from the individual interviews, 73% of all the CSWs in Salima and Mzuzu had plans to get married. 2.3 Older Men Perspective The were 14 older men interviewed in both Salima and Mzuzu on a wide range of issues regarding their knowledge of CSWs, the business including their roles in it. Table 7 below, shows categorisation of older men (ODs) in terms of age, occupation, residence and marital status. In Salima 8 ODs were interviewed whereas in Mzuzu only 6 were covered. The age range of the ODs covered in both places was 26 to 60 with an average of 38 years. The majority of the ODs were from within the study areas with a significant number of them coming from outside the areas particularly for Salima where there was an equal distribution between those from the district and from a far. Mzuzu had only two coming from outside the study area. Apart from 4 ODs, the rest were married with children, some up to 6. They had a wide range of occupation including drivers, businessmen, an accountant, a soldier, a social worker, a technician, a salesman, an administrator and a civil engineer. Those who were not resident in the study areas indicated that they were traveling on duty and a few on private business. Most of the interviewed

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ODs indicated that the nature of their work made them travel quite frequently. According to their stories, the drivers were obviously the most mobile. Table 7: Demographic information on Older men
OLD 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Average Area S S S S S S S S M M M M M M Age 46 30 46 30 45 33 55 32 29 43 60 31 26 30 38 Occupation Accountant Driver Businessman Businessman Businessman Policeman Driver Soldier Social worker Technician Businessman Salesman Civil servant Administrator Residence Botswana Salima Lilongwe Salima Salima Lilongwe Lilongwe Salima Lilongwe Blantyre Mzuzu Mzuzu Mzuzu Mzuzu Marital Status married, 1 child married, 3 children married, 3 children single married, 6 children married, 2 children married, 6 children single married, 1 child married, 5 children married, children single single married

All the ODs had the full knowledge of the existence of CSWs most of the from their personal encounters and experiences. The majority of them disclosed that they had on some occasions been customers to some CSWs. Even those who did not indicate that they had personal experiences with CSWs had been observed by the field assistants getting involved and even living a bottlestore premises with a CSW. This was the case with ODs 1 and 4. In spite of their personal participation as customers in the sex industry, they all expressed strong disapproval of the business. This was an obvious contradiction between their awareness and actual practice, a contradiction which called for an explanation to the question, why do you go for adolescent CSWs? In order to understand their various reasons and explanation on various issues it is necessary to present their stories in form of text excerpts. Text 3: Older Man 5
I want to tell you why older men go for young girls who had had no children and why they prefer slim women to fat ones. You dont have some of these questions here but they are very vital, I think to this study He warned. Personally, I dont approve that adolescents should exchange sex for money, more especially the very young between 12 and 15 years. These are still very young. However, those between 16 and 20, I have my
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reservations. They are on border line and most of these girls are really big and it is difficult to be convinced that one is under 20 years old, He said. On the other hand those below 16 initially come into the business to get support most of the times, but once in practice they fail to quit as by that time they have seen the benefits. Otherwise it is very rare that a girl of that age is practicing sex for money from a well to do family. Most of these well to do girls do it for pleasure, need for company or to fit in a group.-------You know these young girls are so sweet that you cant stop looking for them once you have tested one When asked to explain further, he went to say, Young girls have tender skin and every part is smooth, tender and fresh (ka mpaketi, kosayamba, kosakhudzidwa). These are the words I can use for you to imagine what I mean by tender skin. Young girls vaginas have not lost any groove. You know you women (the data collector was a woman) have nice grooves down there which wear out once you start having babies.Once you start having babies the grooves start to go. Therefore, the more babies a woman has the more grooves she looses and becomes blunt and smooth He stressed the point and went on to say, Young girls are warm all round to touch and this is one other reason men are easily attracted or aroused. You know something, you only have to shake hands and the warmth you get is enough. Then you imagine that if this girl is so warm outside how warm is she inside! You know my friend, slim girls/women are better and sweater compared to fat or big women/girls. Slim girls are also nice and dry. You can do it 4 to 5 times a night still enjoying yourself. But with fat/big women once is enough, you know they are watery. You cant do more than two times. Ask any man he will agree with me.

Older man 5 in Text 3 is only worried of adolescent sex workers up to the age of 15 mainly because they look very young as opposed to those above that age. In other words, he would feel concerned even with those above 15 if only they looked younger. This is confirmed by his obsession with women sizes. In fact as for adolescents, he clearly said, Personally, I dont approve that adolescents should exchange sex for money, more especially the very young between 12 and 15 years. The problem with him is his understanding of who is an adolescent. The disapproval of adolescent exchanging sex for money was expressed by all the ODs interviewed but like the one in text 3 they all had reasons for participating in the business which included the attractive nature of the adolescents. In the original text, when OD 5 was asked about his views and practice of safe sex, he said The way I interpret safe sex is to sleep with a girl who is not infected. I am experienced and I can tell who is infected and who is not, chimenecho ndiye chinsinsi cha amuna (this is mens secret), you may not understand it. On condoms, he said, I dont use condoms and I dont
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advocate the use of condoms. The reasons he gave for this were that: with a condom there is no direct contact; you cant feel the grooves; it takes long to ejaculate; you dont feel the womans fluid and you dont enjoy it at all. Apart from this OD other ODs had different views. In fact this view on condoms contradicted the views of most ODs who indicated that they used condoms except some, occasionally, when under the influence of alcohol. The OD 5 was so much against the use of condoms that he even disclosed a rape incidence when he said, I actually one day raped a girl because she insisted that we use a condom. By the way she was beautiful and tender. I had no choice but raped her. I am saying that I raped her because although she had given her consent, it was on condition I used a condom and I literally refused. It was not surprising, therefore, that some CSWs had complained that some of their customers violently opposed the use of condoms, often leading to forced sex and that they sometimes had to insist on the use of a condom for some of their customers. Those ODs who supported the use of condoms for safe sex indicated that they would sometimes demand to use a condom or two at a time and sometimes the decision to use a condom was mutually agreed. Those with adolescent daughters expressed an outrage at an idea of a possibility for their own daughters engaging in commercial sex work. When asked what their reaction would be, some said they would feel very angry, very disturbed and angry, very sorry, would go mad, will not tolerate, etc. This is a subject which they were not very comfortable discussing at length. One of the ODs simply said, I cant approve this practice and I dont think any man with a daughter would actually tell or encourage his daughter to do this, ndiye wa misalatu (only a mad man can do that). However, the same OD when asked about his sexual experiences with adolescent CSW proudly narrated his experiences as follows: Text 4: Older Man 2
In fact I know not only one but several. Some are these the ones I just showed you. I do even know where they usually go. I have also practiced and I am still practicing. I went into this life club three years ago on my second field work - I will not tell you the place. I did it for two reasons. First to see if indeed my wife would notice it as she had challenged me and also to see how it feels like with these young girls. He went on to say, In fact I was telling myself that this was to be my first and last time, more especially if my wife was to take note. Sissy, I wish I didnt try, ndinatenga wa moto ndipo ndimalephela kugona (I took a hot one and I could not sleep that night). I had no choice, I was confused I could not help it but to continue with the same girl for three days then I took another one for two days and finished off with the same. He then disclosed, I went home and guess what, yes my wife actually noted and told me

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straight while we were making love. I was ashamed but pretended to brush it off. I told her that she was just imagining because I was away for long. Since that time whenever I do it she tells me so but I always deny it, telling her that there is no way I can do that. In fact when going home I always buy nice goodies to cool her off and shut her mouth. He then declared, I always have these young ladies as sexual partners every time I go on field work. I always have either one partner full time or change depending on whether I am satisfied with the girl. If I am in the field for three days, I do it daily and if it is two weeks it means two weeks full time. I usually get girls between 15 and 20 years old and not younger because younger than that means rape. Ive no ill feelings afterwards because they are in business. I dont go to their homes, I find them in bars

OD 2 in Text 4 is not very different from OD 5 particularly in terms of his target CSWs. According to him adolescents of 15 and above are old enough to engage in the commercial sex work and he does not feel guilty about it as long as he meets them in entertainment places where they willingly exchange sex for money. He actually says, they are in business. A significant experience to note in Text 4, is how OD 2 started participating in the business which was characteristic of most ODs interviewed. Like OD 2, it appears that most men get involved as part of a sexual adventure, work pressure, adolescents demand less money than the older ones and sometimes tempted as a result of being away from home where their spouses would not see them. Usually, before the first experience, they are convinced that they would not repeat the action. Infact, in the original text, OD 2 admits that One thing for sure is that it is difficult to get into the practice. But once you are there it is also difficult, if not impossible, to get out. In text 4, the same OD says that In fact I was telling myself that this was to be my first and last time, more especially if my wife was to take note. Surprisingly even after his wife had confronted him the experience he had had was so overwhelming that he could not stop. It sounds like getting addicted. The practice of changing partners is not only done by CSWs as already discussed but also ODs as indicated by the man in Text 4. Therefore, the more mobile, moving from district to district, the more different adolescent CSWs he meets. Drivers like him tend to be more exposed to such a situation considering the nature of their business. The ODs contacted, gave a number of suggestions as a way to control the situation. Among their suggestion, are the ones listed below:

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There is a need to increase penalty for rogue and vagabond convictions from the present K200. The OD policeman added, We need to stiffen the rogue and vagabond penalty through the parliament in order to curb the crime. Civic education targeting adolescent sex workers must be introduced to expose the dangers of commercial sex work because the girls are at the centre of the business. Civic education must also target parents. Some parents encourage their daughters to go out with older men in search for money. They openly tell their young girls to bring some food while the children are not working. Where do they get the money? It is only through commercial sex work with many older men. One OD insisted. That some cultural practices need to be changed. One OD gave an example, In case of where I come from, in Zomba, the Yao conduct initiation ceremonies for both young boys and girls of the age as low as 8-10 years. There is a lot of sex information given to them which they dont need at that age. This then encourages the young girls to feel more mature after graduating from msondo initiation ceremony. During initiation, they are taught that they can now sleep with any man whether young or old since their vagina is enlarged by inserting an egg in it. This is child abuse. I am not saying that initiation ceremonies should end, no! They should continue but only to more mature girls of about 15-17 years of age. However, one OD had a completely different suggestion, according to him: There is no need attempting to stop the business. In his own words, he said: I would suggest that this (commercial sex work) is just legalised as is the case in some countries. Dont refuse a driver to pick matola (to provide lifts to unauthorised passengers), but tell him that he will be dealt with if caught. It is a waste of time because if you restrict a driver the driver will find ways and means to cheat even the police. The same is true with immorality. Let people do it as they wish without restricting them. The results will be that they will eventually discover it is not worth it and will stop. On reasons which encourage the business the ODs provided several. One OD was of the view that it is very difficult to control adolescent commercial sex problem these days. That, with the advent of democracy, girls watch films depicting western style of life so they try to imitate. Nowadays, money is readily available among men and that also, he argued, attracts young girls.
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Another reason given was the proliferation of resthouses. It was noted that in the past, resthouses were not found everywhere as is the case nowadays. It is these numerous resthouses that are contributing to adolescent sex. Some married people just book resthouse rooms and sleep with the girls because they know they are hiding, one OD observed. 2.4 Hotels, Bars, Resthouses and Bottlestores Personnels Perspective Information from personnels working in hotels, resthouses and bottlestores proved to be very vital considering that such people are exposed and have direct access to CSWs almost on daily basis. In fact, according to the information gathered, some of these people play the role of facilitators by linking potential customers to specific adolescent CSWs. The study managed to interview a total of 11 such personnel in both Salima and Mzuzu. Apart from their role as facilitators, other areas of focus in the discussions with them included the effect sex work has on their business as well as their specific observations on the details of how the business is conducted. As regards playing the role of facilitating, one meat roaster at a bottlestore/resthouse in Mzuzu shared the following information with a data collector: Text 5: Meat Roaster
Some men who are new to the place, ask me to find a girl for them. Since I know the girls, I call them and tell them that the man I was with is my uncle and has money. Then the man starts buying drinks for the girl and later they stay together. The next day the girl becomes very happy and tell me that I found her a good line. Some girls pay me for this service but others do not especially those who have just started this trade and have just started getting money. Those who are used to handle money give me some. I dont quarrel with those who do not pay me because I dont want to disturb their trade. I let them do what they want. When asked about his personal relationship with them, the man said, I have friends who are prostitutes and I chat with them. What they often talk about, is mostly about how to hook men. Some of the prostitute friends send me to look for men. For example, yesterday a man came and was producing K200 notes to buy beers, one of the girls called me and asked about the man. I told her that he was my uncle and the girl wanted to know if he would like to have a girl. She also promised to give me some money afterwards. So the deal was promptly made and the man went away with the girl.

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As regards the effect of commercial sex work on the business premises, the man supplied the following informant; Here (at Mlambe Inn), the small girls are not chased away by the management. They are free to come and dance as long as they attract customers. If these girls were not coming, people would not be liking this place. Some people come here to drink but others come due to the presence of girls especially the young ones. Even school girls come here. Thats why this place is usually full because people take it to be a good place. A Bar Man A bar man in Mzuzu had something to say on the same subject of playing the role of facilitating. Sometimes, other men find women through me. That is more helpful and easy because if you go to a place and want a woman, you cant go straight to her but through the counter. I then would ask a friend about the woman and I would know whether she is alone or not. This helps in preventing problems and fights. Other girls also ask me about men who come here. They ask of a man who is alone and I tell them I dont know him but has just come in to drink. Then they send me to ask him to buy them a drink. Other men buy but some refuse. When one buys and the man wants the girl, he invites her to sit at the same place. I do recommend good girls especially to strangers like you (the data collector was a man).

One common feature emanating from the two interviews in Text 5 is the fact that CSWs are not the only beneficiaries in monetary terms resulting from the sex work business. Both the meatroaster and the barman disclosed that in the course of facilitating the establishment of relationships between men and CSWs or vice versa, they often get some monetary rewards. The meat roaster clearly indicates that some girls pay me for the service...... Likewise the management of the entertainment places such as bottlestores and resthouses do not mind the girls presence because they help to attract customers. In addition the people working in these places, according to the barman, help to avoid conflicts which could result from customers competing for the same girl. So the adolescent CSW does not operate alone in her business. She networks with other people, equally important to understand in order to come up with workable solutions. Both cases discussed in Text 5, are typical examples of what goes on in most strategically situated bottlestores in most areas, according to the bar man who claimed to have worked in many districts including Lilongwe, Ntcheu, Kasungu, Zomba and Blantyre. This could also be verified by one OD driver who had been interviewed earlier. And in fact on the basis of the indicators available one has just got to visit a sample of bottlestores within a particular area to find out how typical the situation described here is. However, bottlestores are not the only places frequented by CSWs. Resthouses are the other strategic places where sex work business is conducted. Whereas bottlestores are mainly used as meeting

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places, resthouses provide accommodation for the actual transaction involving sex for money. Text 6 below provides some experience of what goes on at one of the resthouses visited in Salima. Specifically, the resthouse under discussion has a cocktail as well. Text 6: A Resthouse keeper
With a smile, the resthouse keeper continued saying, Yes, those girls do come here to drink beers, very young girls. With modern life what can we do? We see these girls coming here. It is not a happy situation, the girls are extremely young. Yes, they come here. There are two ways. Some do come alone, drink waiting to be picked up by men while others come here by their men. I have seen this happening since I started working here at Kamuzu Road. Let me answer in this way; it is possible, let me give an example: There is a certain girl, down there as you arrive here at a place called Waka. There stays a well to do man. He has many things but he has a daughter who is involved in the practice of exchanging sex for money. I cant say that some of these girls engage in this business because of poverty but simply kulowa mtima wa uhule (they just want to practice prostitution). They want to get money fast without hardships. If you ask some of these girls they will tell you that they went up to secondary school - which means their parents were preparing a good future for them.

The resthouse keeper in Text 6, just like the barman in Mzuzu quoted in Text 5, further disclosed that the management does not have any regulations prohibiting adolescent CSWs from coming to the premises. She actually said, I dont know any rules that prohibit these girls to operate here. If such rules are there, we have not been told. They come here and we treat them as any other customers. This view by the resthouse keeper was later contradicted by a watchman at a nearby Check Point Bottlestore/Night Club who claimed that Here at Check Point, there is a rule which forbids under eighteens to come in. This rule covers both boys and girls. This regulation was being enforced long time ago during the time the owner was still alive. This rule sometimes works. Some (under-aged) pass through. The watchman had some more interesting information which is in part recorded in the Text 7 extract below. Text 7: A Watchman
The practice of young girls exchanging sex for money really happens. We see it with our own eyes. Old men of ages 30 and 40 taking a 13 year old girl or 18 years. They take these girls to have sex with them sometimes in a way of short time. These girls exchange sex for money because of poverty they experience in their respective homes. Thats why they would like to get support from chiwerewere. The poverty I am talking about here is in form of day to day needs. It could be that parents are old or they are quite strong but fail to support their daughters fully. But sometimes you would find a
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neighbour next to your house is able to support his children nicely. Now those children who lack adequate assistance admire the way their fellow children are being supported by their parents. Furthermore, they see their friends bringing home things like soap, food, etc through other means. After seeing this, they also start exchanging sex for money The man lamented.

The reasons given by the watchman quoted in Text 7 on what drives adolescent to commercial sex work echoes similar reasons given by CSWs themselves as well as some ODs. As for the premises there is ample evidence to suggest that at least bottlestores and resthouses are the leading places where CSWs of all ages operate from. The two premises complement each other. On the one hand the former premises are the hunting grounds for the main activities which take place mainly in the latter places. 2.5 Parents, Teachers and Guardians Perspective It is obvious knowledge that before adolescents are netted into sex work, they originate first from parents/guardians who have the primary responsibility for their upbringing. Teachers also play an important role not only in their education but also in some form of councelling in supplement to what goes on in their respective homes. Preliminary findings prior to the study and the results from the pilot study had established that an overwhelming majority of adolescent CSWs had at least some form of primary education. This became more evident during the study itself. In view of this, therefore, it was not surprising that parents, guardians, and teachers became very resourceful in the information they shared with the researchers. The study identified 25 informants belonging to this group. Nine of these were interviewed in Salima whereas the remaining 16 were identified in Mzuzu. Among the questions addressed to them, they were mostly keen on providing reasons for what they saw as a steadily growing commercial sex industry as well as the role they play including their suggestions to contain the situation. They all demonstrated possession of adequate knowledge of the subject emanating from their day to day interactions with adolescents either as parents/guardians or as teachers. Each one of them expressed total disapproval of the business and infact indicated that on several occasions they discussed the problem among themselves. In addition, teachers made some effort to frequently counsel their pupils on the dangers of getting involved in the dangerous business. It was on the basis of their keen interest in the subject they later advised the researchers to also conduct a discussion with their pupils.

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Of the wide range of reasons that parents/ guardians some had to do with what they termed as poor parental care, peer pressure and cultural influence. One parent provided the following information: Text 8: A parent in Mzuzu
There could be many reasons why these young girls are practising this dirty trade, if I may call it. But I feel the following are the major ones here in the North though they may be applicable elsewhere. He went on to say, Sometimes parents/guardians send these girls into this business. A girl may request for something very simple but basic for her daily upkeep as a girl. You know parents should not compare their times and today - For instance, when a girl requests for some money or food to carry to school, some parents may retort, We never took any food to school during our days. Why should you? Then this girl on her way to school, the girl meets a man who offers to buy her yorghurt, buns, fruit or anything. Do you think she wont accept? He asked, of course she will accept as this is the very thing she wanted her parents to do. Two or three times of this experience, will lead to her to accepting to sleep with the man as payment. It will be difficult for her to tell her parents because she will be afraid to say how it all started..

The parental-care reason that may lead to an adolescent indulging in commercial sex as given by the parent in the above text is very similar to the one given by one of the sample teachers in the extract quoted below: A teacher in Mzuzu
One of the reasons is lack of parental care. Sometimes the girl may go home from school and find literally nothing or may not eat anything when coming to school. In order to get something to eat she may start the practice. Sometimes, parents may try but cant afford - it is not their wish not to provide the girl with what she needs. Usually the girl may not know that her parents cannot afford. This means that the problem is with us parents because we know our families but the child is not made aware of our income. You know kids envy their friends due to possession of things. Let us teach them about what we can afford and what we cant. Let them realise that they are lucky to have parents who are fighting for their education. She further said, They need to pray so that they should finish school while their parents are still alive. Then they will get the things which their friends have. She went on to argue that in addition to lack of parental care some parents influence their daughters unknowingly. On this, she gave an example, Sometimes you find a girl putting on a face powder and when the father asks the mother will defend the girl. In addition the girl may bring things such as sugar, bread, etc. And as a parent, I dont know where the things come from and I know that we cant afford but I just accept. If the husband asks, the mother becomes defensive; musiyeni mudya chani pano, inu

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mumapeza? (leave her alone, can you bring this?). This means as a parent, I am encouraging the child to go and get money from men.

Both examples in text 8 talk about lack of parental care as a significant influence in leading adolescents into sex work. The general experience provided by the parent and the teacher have to do with some domestic but basically economic aspects which when improperly handled give rise to the problem of adolescents getting involved in commercial sex work. Apparently, it is not always due to poverty but lack of understanding and flexibility on the part of parent as indicated in the example by the parent in Text 8 - ie. We never took any food to school during our days. Why should you? However, poverty as a factor has again and again been cited as one of the main causes by most informants encountered during the study. In case of inability to afford some basic family needs, a result of poverty, the implied suggestion by the teacher is for parents to explain the truth to their children. Peer influence as a factor was well captured in the experiences narrated by the same parent in Text 8 as presented below:
Girls, like boys, move in groups, therefore the whole group has one thing in common. Thus, if friends have money to spend at lunch hour, she will be forced to indulge in the business in order to have money like her friends if her parent or guardians cant afford to give her. Or if all her friends in the group have sugar daddies, the poor girl will do likewise to fit in and please the group. She may not want to do it but she has no choice. This peer pressure also happens among boys but usually they indulge in doing other things like taking drugs such as chamba and cocaine. Another parent in Salima had a similar view on peer influence. She put it as follows, Some girls see what their friends gain in the trade and they want to be like them. Initially, their aim is not the business part of it but merely fun. Its after they have been in the practice for some time that they discover the negative effects. However, peer pressure force them to continue, otherwise they would not find it difficult to stop. I tell you there are girls here practising this but not under my guardianship. But some of them are my friends girls and my friends are really on panic on how best to deal with the problem.

However, a teacher in Mzuzu had a slightly different view on the same issue of peer pressure. According to him, peer pressure works out of ignorance emanating from the little knowledge they gain from some of her Biology lessons. She gave an example as follows, Ive just finished a topic on reproduction, and you can tell the views they hold on reproduction. The ideas are totally wrong and probably these are the ideas they share with their friends. That you can do this or that and you will be safe. She further noted that when teaching on the same topic, even those students who are usually quite, suddenly become active. She went on to give an example of the confusion made by most of her students when
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interpreting what are considered to be safe days. Some of her students take the 14th day of the menstrual cycle which is the ovulation day to mean the 14th day of a month. Armed with this wrong understanding they confidently go ahead to carelessly practice with their bodies. In most cases this leads to early pregnancies, high rate of drop-outs and some get chased away from their homes ending up in the streets as CSWs at a tender age. Whatever the slight differences in the way peer influence or pressure is viewed, the common feature is that day to day interaction or relationship among adolescent girls themselves is a factor viewed as significant in building up the girls behaviours. When such peer influence is not checked it can result into a kind of pressure which can lead some adolescents to commercial sex work. There was a social cultural dimension which was also discussed at length by some parents and guardians interviewed in the study. One guardian pointed out that enlarged families resulting from respect for extended family tradition, put unnecessary pressure on some families. Such a situation obviously overstretches the already meagre family income to the point of not being able to adequately provide basic necessities for ones nucleus family let alone those from the extended families. Adolescent girls from such families, it was argued, fall easy prey to temptations leading to commercial sex work. some of the informants in this group, mostly teachers had some serious reservation with some of the radio programmes which are in essence meant to provide civic education to the youth mainly on sex education particularly in combating HIV/AIDS. Frequent reference was made to radio programmes such as TINKANENA and STRAIGHT TALK. A typical example of the argument came from a teacher in Mzuzu who provided the following quoted information: Text 9: A Teacher in Mzuzu
Another cause is the radio play of Tinkanena. This play or programme has revealed a lot of things many children didnt know. You know, once this programme is on, children leave whatever they were doing and come next to the radio to listen. Compare with TOP OF THE CLASS, they dont come and yet this is an academic programme. they dont want to listen to that but Tinkanena. This is now common to most children. They seem to have learned a lot from the programme and they want to practice as their friend in the play. Of course it is a good programme because the children learn how to avoid AIDS but at the same time they are learning other bad things. He then advised, It would be nice if there was another way of giving the same information to avoid the present misconception about the whole thing.

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Some of those who were against the programme discussed in Text 9, were of the view that the Tinkanena programme could better be organised as Mtsogolo la Atsikana programme. In this programme various people talk about their experiences and in this way, it was argued, girls can learn something positively. They felt, therefore, that the latter programme should be given more air time than Tinkanena. The argument goes on that commercial sex work is a baby of early adolescent sex which seems to be encouraged by the said programme. Orphanage was also mentioned as a cause which has become rampant as a result of AIDS pandemic. The children left without parental care tend to become vulnerable to ready temptation mainly resulting from economic pressure. Such pressures easily force adolescents to seek for easy solutions including commercial sex work. In fact the findings from CSWs themselves had a significant percentage of them opting for the business with such a background. A number of suggestions were documented from the group of parents, guardians and teachers. Among the suggestions are the ones listed below: That counselling sessions should be intensified in school. This can effectively be done by introducing sex education in the school curriculum; Sporting activities should be intensified in schools; To prohibit employment of young girls below the age of 18 in bars, bottlestores and resthouses; To effectively enforce the law against blue movies and those caught should be severely punished; That the issuing of condoms should be restricted to adults; That older men caught with adolescent girls should be imprisoned for five years and fined heavily (K10,000); That government should not only interdict teachers but also other civil servants once they impregnate a school girl; That school drop-outs should be given loans to engage in income generating activities and impart them with skills for self reliance;

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That more job opportunities should be created to engage the youth productively; The suggestions provided by this target group, whether practical or not are a clear indication of the society disapproval of commercial sex work and a genuine desire to see it eradicated. 2.5.1 Parents and Chiefs Focus Group Discussions (FGD) Focus group discussions with parents and chiefs, provided more detailed information on the subject of commercial sex work among adolescents. There were separate FGDs for each category in which all the pertinent questions and topics were covered. In both Salima and Mzuzu, the chiefs and parents echoed the knowledge about the existence of adolescent CSWs already demonstrated by other informants in the study. There were some variations reflected in the reasons they gave which they felt contributed to the problem. In their concluding remarks they came up with suggestions for solutions to what they generally saw as a fast growing problem in their respective areas. There was one FGD for chiefs in Salima which involved 20 participants comprising of village headmen and their T. A. Kalonga. Part of the one and half hour conversation is as recorded in Text 10 below. Text 10: FGD for Chiefs in Salima
Q 1: Are you aware of adolescents exchanging sex for money?

VH 1: We village headmen and our chiefs do see that our children are not behaving in a right way in our villages. We do talk and advise them that their behaviour is not good. VH 2: We also discuss with parents on the conduct of their girls and tell them to discuss this with the girls. But the problem is that most of the parents usually ask, Is it only my child who is doing these things? This shows that parents consider us as bad people. As a result most of us have stopped giving advice to these girls and their parents. This makes our work very difficult. The parents feel that no chief can advise them on their daughters because they are benefiting from their daughters business (akudyeramo makolo). VH 3: Both parents support their daughter, she brings sugar in the house. Most of the times the mother is in the forefront, therefore the chiefs or the even the father cant do anything. They become helpless.

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The picture one gets out of the discussion in the extract above is that of a situation in homes and villages which provides a breeding ground for potential adolescent CSWs. It is apparent that most of the VHs put the blame on the parents of the girls mainly by appearing to either overtly or covertly encouraging the behaviour of learning to exchange sex for money. In fact all the VHs who responded to the question above provided similar information only differing in details and specifics of experience. Another question put to the group for discussion was on reasons which lead to adolescents exchanging sex for money.
Q 2: Why do you think are the reasons for the young girls engaging in the business of exchanging sex for money?

VH 4: Sometimes the girls copy from friends. Also the girls know that once they engage in this business they will get money because most of them are from poor families. However, some are from rich families but they do this because of democracy - do as you wish. VH 5: Imagine what was happening in February. People were indulging in sexual immorality at ADMARC in order to get maize. Girls left the villages without money but brought maize. When asked where they got it, they said a friend gave them. Famine is the major cause because when there is no food at home the kids will run away. The same is true with a dog, itll go where there is food. VH 6: You know during initiation ceremonies during our times, we were beaten while these days you cant dare beat somebodys daughter. this is because of Christianity and freedom This happens everywhere as it is viewed as primitive to beat children while in actual fact you are trying to correct them.

Most of those who participate in discussing the reasons for the problem concentrated on economic factors, blaming it for the rampant poverty as the main cause with an exception of a few such as VH 6 in the text who attributed it to cultural reasons. A heated debate ensued following the mention of the religious factor as one of the causes with some strongly arguing that no religion preaches in favour of sexual immorality. After discussing the causes they turned their attention to providing suggestions to control the situation.
Q 3: How can this problem be prevented? VH 2: My comment is like this; yes laws are there to prevent young girls and boys not to be found at bars. But it is not possible as chiefs to tell them not to be found at the bars. I remember we once had no law against women should putting on shorts, trousers and miniskirts but the government just announced that no woman

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should be found in miniskirts and trousers. They immediately stopped. But this freedom of everything, we see trousers are back. Therefore it should be the government again to enforce the law against young girls and boys entering bars and bottlestores premises. Not the chiefs but the government. Your know bar owners cant listen to the chief even though you gave him the land to operate from. But if the government can reintroduce this law it can work as it worked against miniskirts.

Some chiefs lamented for the erosion of their powers including cultural norms as a result of Christianity and democracy. According to them, the trend can only be reversed if the government can effectively intervene by enacting some strict laws to control peoples behaviours particularly young girls and boys and by providing adequate support to the chiefs to enable them enforce some relevant cultural norms. In spite of the apparent lack of a direct focus on the actual problems of adolescent commercial sex work, particularly in the suggestions supplied by the chiefs, there was a common understanding that there was a genuine problem concerning the CSWs that needed to be urgently addressed. Five parents in Salima constituted a focused group discussion. Areas for discussion for this group were similar to those given to the chiefs in Text 10. Some extracts of the discussion are presented in Text 11 below: Text 11: Parents FGD
Q 1: Are you aware of the practice of adolescents exchanging sex for money?

PR 1: We are aware of the practice of adolescents exchanging sex for money. These girls like moving at night. We see them pass through our village and at times chat near our homes. We know the names of some of the girls but we cant confront them because they can insult us. We even fail to report to their parents. Some parents in this village encourage their girls to indulge in these immoral acts. We say this because when we try to alert them about the behaviours of their daughters they defend them. The girls themselves go to the extent of saying, Why are you concerned about my life style as if you are my mother? PR 2: But we reported one girl to her brother because we were very concerned looking at her age which was below 20. Her brother chased her away and beat her. Since then she has stopped the practice. We have got girls here. There is one who is about 14 years old but she does not go out with men like other girls and I am confident that she will not indulge herself in this practice.

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PR 3: These girls go out to exchange sex for money after copying the bad examples from their parents. There are some parents who practice the same so there is no way the same parents can rebuke their children. They would be told that they are also doing the same; so why stop us? There are some innocent parents but their girls go out at night to fulfill their sexual desire. Other girls are being cheated by their friends telling them that they make a lot of money out of the business and they can afford to buy things including going to hair saloons. Some girls get tempted to start going out with men because they need money for their upkeep at school to buy small things like mandasi, zitumbua, makope (doughnuts, fritters and exercise books)

Most of the experiences narrated by parents 1, 2 and 3 are strictly not CSW cases but can be described as initial stages leading to a fully fledged CSW status. However the experience given by PR 1, seems to be more of a typical example of girls exchanging sex for money than in the other examples. Like in one of the experiences given by one of the ODs in Salima, one of the parents in this FGD provided a cultural reason as a cause which encourages early adolescent sex leading to commercial sex. He went on to say:
PR 4: The traditional cultures practiced by some of our tribes likeYao are also damaging. When a girl gets matured she is taken away for a period of one month (msondo) where she is taught some cultural norms since she is considered a grown up. Unfortunately, most of these girls considered as mature are as young as 8 years old. Some of these cultures are good because they deal with the general positive conduct for a girl as a grown up but there are other cultures which teach the girl how to handle a man in bed when making love. They even do the practice at msondo. They are told t hat once matured a girl is not supposed to fear any man however big or small. They are told not to refuse a man when he demands sex. when these girls come from msondo, they want to practice what they had learnt at msondo and in so doing they end up being prostitutes. Some of such cultures should not be taught to very young girls. PR 5: Just imagine, one of the girls said plainly when passing through here that she was going to look for men because her genital parts were not put to use. But looking at the size of the girl it is very pathetic. When she came back, I tried to ask her whether she had put to use her genitals. She just laughed without answering. At msondo the girls are used to playing with their genitals everyday and when they come home they become sexually crazy looking for men to satisfy their desires.

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It is debatable whether cultural practices on their own may lead to encouraging adolescents exchanging sex for money. When this question was raised, a concesous was that it is more of a combination of several factors including economic, cultural, social as well as some individual traits which are ultimately responsible for pushing young girls into practicing commercial sex work. It is not surprising, therefore, that their suggestions covered most of all those areas. For instance, they talked about the need to intensify counselling of the girls, civic education for parents as well as the girls on some specific cultural norms pertaining to the girls future sexual life, the need to control activities at entertainment places such as bottlestores, taverns, etc. including imposing restrictions on the operations of resthouses, etc. One parent, for instance, pointed out that some of the girls have deserted their homes and stay permanently in resthouses realising money from selling their bodies. It was interesting to note that the experiences including suggestions from FGDs in Salima were very similar to those from FGDs in Mzuzu. In addition to the suggestions given one parent in Mzuzu FGD was of the opinion that a law should be enacted to deal with any OD who is found flirting with adolescents particularly those below the age of 15. 2.6 School Pupils Perspective School pupils constituted a category which could have been missed if it were not for suggestions by some teachers in Salima. The information gathered from FGDs, one in Salima and two in Mzuzu proved to be very valuable. Since there were no specific questions prepared in advance prior to the field study specifically targeting school pupils, the researchers had to select some questions from those meant for CSWs and reformulate some of them so that they could not be addressed as CSWs. Some teachers interviewed suspected some of their pupils to be part-time CSWs as such when helping to form the group, such pupils were included tactfully. The questions addressed to this target group sought to seek information regarding their relationship with the opposite sex, their knowledge of commercial sex work, the kind of sexual temptations they encounter on day to day basis, their awareness on STDs including AIDS and finally their suggestions. A part of the pupils FGD in Salima went on as recorded in Text 12 below. Fifteen girls took part in the discussion whose age range was between 12 and 16. Text 12: School Pupils FGD in Salima
Q 1: Do you or have you ever had a boyfriend?

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PP 1: No, I have never had a boy friend. There is nothing that I miss from parents that I may get from the boys. I want to have a better future and I want to be a nurse. PP 2 I want to be a teacher and boys amatangwanitsa (bring confusion).

The two including three more insisted that they had never had a boy friend and they didnt want any but their friends argued that some of the five were not being honest. The remaining ten admitted of having boyfriends. Most of these preferred boyfriend from the working class such as mini bus drivers and businessmen as opposed to their fellow pupils.
Q 2: Why do you have to have boyfriends?

PP 3: My friends in our group have boyfriends. However, I have discovered that I wont benefit anything (mulibe phindu anangokuononga). Therefore, I dont have a friend now, I stopped the friendship. PP 4: I have a boyfriend to have enough money for lunch and other things but you pay for this money as you can get pregnant.

During the discussion, whenever a provoking question came up those suspected as part-time CSWs would get very excited and looked at each other smiling while others just kept quite or only smiled a bit. One freely said such monies invited providing sex in form of repayment. When asked how they arranged meeting their boyfriends, one said, we run away through a window/door at night or pretend to go to the toilet. Other girls sleep in their own small houses. Further information supplied by the regarding the tricks used in arranging meeting their boyfriends was so detailed with most of them giving their own examples. For instance, one said, When we have a date we lie to our parents that we are going to do a home work at a friends house. Usually a friend would be alerted before hand. The discussion on this subject was so lively that it was possible to conclude that most of them indeed had boyfriends.
Q 3: How do you get a boyfriend?

PP 3: Usually when you are interested in a man or a teacher, you actually go near him or near the group walking seductively to draw the persons attention (kunyada ndi kudzithyola-thyola). If he reacts by asking, you openly say I want you, sir. And if a different person asks or answers you respond rudely, dont bother me, you are stupid. The teacher/man will know that you have interest in him and he will most likely make a move.

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PP 5: Here at school you may tactfully take things from the boy you want just to provoke him. You may also talk to the boy so often that he gets interested and attracted. This is done many times. Another tactic is to bring food for the teacher/boy many times for him to notice. PP 6: Sometimes you deliberately expose your private parts a bit for the man to notice. It may involve thighs or part of breasts mainly done to teachers by sometimes wearing short dresses.

Their views on how they behave in order to attract men confirmed the information provided by their teachers in Salima as well as Mzuzu. The teachers had earlier indicated that they were able to identify girls who were suspected to have started to actively engage in sex on the basis of their behavioural changes. Apart from sitting carelessly in class exposing their private parts, some of the girls would tend to behave rudely particularly to female teachers. Also they noticed a sudden change in dressing, Just imagine, a child with a poor background suddenly starts putting on expensive clothes and spending money on hair make ups. A teacher was reported saying and another one added, There are girls who are coming from very poor families; we know their families cant afford much. But surprisingly their daughters have money here to spend for lunch on daily basis. In addition you may see she has suddenly permed her hair. Then you wonder where she got the money from.
Q 4: What do you get from your boyfriends?

PP 5: Usually these boyfriends give you K90 to K100 per week. But some girls insist to be given more and they end up getting more. Working class boyfriends are not the best because they rely on monthly salaries. Therefore, you are given money only once a month which is different with a businessman. Q 5: Are you aware of STDs?

All the girls expressed adequate awareness of STDs including HIV/AIDS. They often got this information from hospitals, radio and some officials had come to give them a talk on the latter. In addition, at the school there is an anti AIDS club known as Toto AIDS Club. HIV/AIDS information in this club is disseminated through drama, music, debate, poems and quizzes. Out of the group, 4 were members of the club. They further gave examples of STDs such as gonorrhoea, chancroid and syphilis. On how STDs are contracted, they all mentioned sexual intercourse, in fact they all echoed what one had started saying, We know that if we go out with men we are risking our lives.

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On the knowledge of safe sex A specific question on safe sex was on the use of condoms to which most of the girls were tongue tied initially. After more probing, all of them except one disclosed that they had seen a condom but did not say where they had seen it. Some of the girls said that it is necessary to move with one in case of emergency. One said, The boys usually move with condoms, they buy them from bars groceries and sometimes get free from friends and hospital.
Q 6: What suggestions do you have on adolescent commercial sex work?

PP 1: When these girls are found they should be put in prison for two months and while in prison, they should be handcuffed all the time. The reason is to make them realise that it is a very bad behaviour, like satana (devil). PP 7: Police should search in all bars and resthouses and any under age girls should be removed from the premises. Owners of bars should be told not to allow young people in their places. PP 2: Girls should learn to say no to men because if you refuse they will leave you alone.

The general impression emanating from the FGDs was that temptation for adolescent girls to engage in sex for money was real. This does not mean to say that there is a significant number of school girls involved in the business. However, the information point to the fact that there is a need to target schools as well in any plans aimed at preventing the sex for money behaviour.

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3.0

OBSERVATIONS

The information provided by the target informants of this study which appears in chapter two can best be understood within a dialectical or interrelationship presentation according to the thematic areas in this study. These areas include, Experiences, economic and Environmental Aspects; Awareness and Behavioural Patterns; and Expectations and Socio-cultural Considerations. This chapter discusses the average totality of all the information from all the target informants under each theme at a time. However, the focus is also put on information obtained from individual interviews from adolescent CSWs. 3.1 Experiences, economic and Environmental Aspects There is ample evidence from this study conducted in Salima and Mzuzu that the problem of adolescent girls exchanging sex for money exists in the urban areas of Malawi. The areas affected are not only the resort areas of the country, but also in all other areas with a relative concentration of economic activities. There is also evidence to suggest that the further away from urban centres coupled with less economic activities, the less the problem of commercial sex work. At most girls from non urban areas tend to migrate to towns for them to effectively engage in commercial sex work. It was not surprising, therefore, that places such as Lifuwu, SengaBay and Chipoka had fewer CSWs than Salima town itself. In fact, at Chipoka the activities of CSWs becomes active during days when the MV Ilala and Mtendere dock at the port. Likewise, it was difficult to find CSWs in Ekwendeni which is a small trading centre about ten kilometers away from Mzuzu. In Salima a twenty year old CSW 10, resident at Chipoka at the time of the study, confirmed this observation in the following interview extract based on her experiences: Text 13: CSW 10 at Chipoka
I live alone here. I have a room in which I stay. I decided to join this business because after the death of my father and husband, my family became completely helpless. I started working here as a barmaid seven months ago with a monthly pay which is not enough. I supplement my income by going out with men who come here to drink and others to sleep in our resthouse. This place becomes busy when Mtendere and Ilala docks at this port on Fridays and Wednesdays. On these days the resthouse is fully booked..............This time there is good business because of the Kier International (a construction company in the area) workers who are doing irrigation project at Bwanje Valley. When they knock off, they come here in big numbers and buy beers in crates.

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The demographic data also provides overwhelming information about a significant number of CSWs migrating from nearby as well as distant districts partly because of the strategic importance of the geographic locations of their new residential locations. In the case of Mzuzu and Salima, the former is a major urban centre in the Northern region whereas Salima is a resort centre which apart from attracting tourists, it provides facilities for holding seminars, workshops and conferences. The parents, ODs, personnels in hotels, bottlestores and resthouses were of the view that the problem of commercial sex work is growing. For instance, in Luwinga, a suburb of Mzuzu, there has been a sharp increase of CSWs activities with the establishment of the tobacco market two years ago. Also most of the informants indicated that not long ago, the problem was not as extensive as it was at the time of the study in all the areas covered. On the part of CSWs, experiences to them mean their day to day activities pertaining to their business. Those interviewed discussed their experiences by constantly referring to their common difficulties in identifying customers, the benefits they get from the business as well as the numerous problems they encounter on the day to day basis. A typical example of such CSWs experiences include problems from different customers ranging from forced sex, receiving no pay after providing sexual services, getting arrested by police, etc as provided by some of the CSWs who talked about the problems they had encountered. Text 14: CSWs Problems CSW 10 in Salima
The seven months I have worked here, I have not had many problems with my customers except from one. The man after having sex with me, he refused to pay the agreed amount of K60 because, he said, he was not satisfied with my performance. Instead he decided to pay me K30. When I tried to take his pair of shoes he turned so aggressive that he beat me so hard that I fell down. I just let him go without even getting his K30. But next time he came, he gave me K100 without even demanding sex and we are good friends now.

CSW 6 in Mzuzu
Some other customers are not cooperative. You may get a customer who could be buying you beers and then you agree to go and have sex after agreeing on the charge. But when you are through with sex, he runs away

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without paying you. He would usually leave early in the morning while you are still asleep.

CSW 11 in Salima
Most of the customers are cooperative even though some are not. Here in Salima, soldiers are a problem. They usually frighten me and most of the times they do it free of charge. Some of these customers beat me when I refuse them.

CSW 8 in Salima
We were once arrested by the police. A friend of ours had agreed to sleep with a soldier from the parachute battalion. Our friend run away from the room the soldier had booked before sex. The soldier came to us reporting that our friend had run away and that we should tell her that once she once she comes back she would be beaten. When the girl came and joined us, the soldier thought we knew it all. He started beating us all and the owner of the resthouse called the police who came and arrested us all. We spent a night in custody and were released the following morning without any charge.

Inspite of such kind of problems presented in Text 14, most CSWs would still continue with their business mainly because of the benefits they get and partly due to lack of readily available alternatives. All the informants including the CSWs themselves, sampled in the study, cited poverty as one of the main reasons for the business and economic benefits as what keeps most CSWs in the business. The stories in Text 15 are very common among CSWs. Text 15 Benefits CSW 8 in Salima
I am 17 years old and I lost both parents at the age of 14. My grandmother kept me after losing both parents. I became a sex worker due to problems. My relatives support me only with food and shelter but not with clothes or soap. All these I buy alone. I was at first selling mandazi to raise some money. I was given a capital of K150 to do this by my grandmother. My brother stole my money amounting to K300. With sex work I have been able to buy enough clothes. I have bought five pairs of shoes and I also support my grandmother. I bought her two pairs of shoes and some clothes. I also give her some money. I have also bought household items such as kitchen utensils.

CSW 6 in Mzuzu

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The main aim was to build a house of my own. I have built it right at home in Mulanje this year (1998). My brother is staying in the house. It has taken a lot of money. I bought second hand iron sheets at K3000. Yes, all this money I got from ntchito yoyenda-yenda (sex work). I have been doing this business since 1995.

CSW 18 in Salima
Apart from little assistance from my old grand parents, no one was supporting me. I needed to eat, clothes and go to school but I could not afford all these. Life was not easy with me when I was selected to go to form one at Salima Secondary School. I had no money to pay school fees and money to buy other necessities. Then with nothing to do, I resorted to sex work. This has really assisted me financially. I managed to pay fees, buy books, food and other necessities from the money I realised from the business. I now have a JCE certificate because of sex work. I started sex work in 1996 when I was in form one.

Economic pressure as a factor was also confirmed by chiefs, parents, teachers, and even pupils. According to some of these informants, some parents encourage their daughters to get involved in the business due to the ready benefits. What is most significant in the analysis of the benefits from sex work is to understand the whole network system - How it functions and all the beneficiaries involved. For instance, there is evidence from this study that owners of premises frequented by CSWs do not mind the presence of CSWs as long as they help to attract customers. To them it does not matter how young the CSWs are but rather how much they can make. Likewise, the employees at these premises such as meat roasters, watchmen, barmen and resthouse keepers stand to gain financially by playing the role of facilitators between CSWs and customers. On their part, ODs fulfill their sexual desires and the CSWs get away with some money to meet their daily needs. To them the problems surrounding the business are not of immediate concern. The problems are either occasional or distant such as the threat of a possibility of contracting HIV/AIDS sometime in the future. In contrast, their day to day needs are a matter of here and now problems. In meeting their needs, other beneficiaries are involved such us some parents, old grand parents, young sisters or brothers as well as CSWs children. 3.2 Awareness and Behavioural Patterns Matters of awareness and behaviour in this study are targeted at CSWs and ODs primarily because the commercial sex work transaction involves the two parties. It is natural, therefore, to focus on the level of their awareness regarding consequences of commercial sex activities and how such awareness

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is reflected in their sexual behaviours. Findings in this study have established that on the one hand there is a relatively adequate awareness on both parties regarding the transmission, dangers and prevention of STDs including HIV/AIDS, the use of condoms and the other risks in the commercial sex business. On the other hand, their general behaviour does not correspond with their level of awareness mainly due to some of the reasons partly discussed in 2.3 and 3.1. Further evidence of their awareness and behaviour is presented below from extracts of their individual interviews. Text 16: Awareness CSW 2 in Mzuzu
My work has some problems like diseases and possibilities of becoming pregnant. I might suffer from AIDS and I hear about gonorrhea, syphilis. I have never suffered from any of the diseases. Maybe AIDS because when you go to the hospital to test these days they say your blood is alright. That is what they say these days. I knew about AIDS from the hospital, radio and people. I got better information about AIDS from the hospital and by seeing people suffering from it, losing their hairs just like the radio says. But people also say that those who work in bars like me are the ones who suffer from AIDS. As for me, I dont understand that because I live in a bar and I started drinking beer a long time ago. I started sleeping with men before I was 11. That is why I became pregnant early and gave birth to a child. What I have seen is that those who were saying I would die because I am sleeping with different men are the ones who are dead. It is not true that when you are married sticking to one man then you are free of AIDS.

A rather defiant view but it provides the necessary information as regards the difference between receiving information and accepting or believing it. The CSW in the above text is fully aware of the fact that HIV/AIDS is spread through sex but does not want to accept that by having many sexual partners she is more at risk at least than those with single partners. It is like a thief who keeps on stealing and for some reason he thinks he cannot be caught. There are many CSWs in this category. A few, according to the study findings, have adopted I dont care attitude. Similarly, while aware of the use of condoms two of the interviewed ODs simply did not believe in using them as a means of practicing safe sex. One was recorded as saying, The way I interpret safe sex is to sleep with a girl who is not infected. I am experienced and I can tell who is infected and who is not, chimenecho ndiye chinsinsi cha amuna (this is mens secret), you may not understand it. On condoms, he declared, I dont use condoms and I don,t advocate the use of condoms. The study could not come across any CSW or OD who had never heard about HIV/AIDS including the dangers involved. Unfortunately, there is no evidence to suggest that their

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knowledge about the direct relationship between sex and HIV/AIDS has or is scaring them away from the business. However, there is some evidence that condoms are used though not on every single occasion. The fact that most CSWs have the initiative of spending their hard earned money for buying condoms and sometimes insisting to their customers on the use of condoms, is indicative of an extensive use of a condom. Another typical example of CSWs behavioural pattern, is captured from an interview extract conducted in Salima. CSW 8 in Salima
On condom use, I always insist on my customers. Some ask for the condom. Only with my boyfriend I have sex without a condom. We buy condoms at K2 a packet of three. We also receive free condoms from Banja la Mtsogolo and district hospital. Some of my fellow girls say that condoms are good because they protect one from diseases. Others say they are bad because they cause abdominal pains. I dont believe in that, it has never happened to me. Some say AIDS came for people and not trees and hence there is no need to use condoms. Other men refuse to use condoms saying I am a young girl, I cant have HIV. And also that they are healthy looking and as such cant possibly have AIDS. Some girls believe that but I dont.

By listening to various accounts of CSWs sexual experiences, one gets the feeling that it is extremely difficult for a CSW alone to sustain the use of a condom without the full cooperation of her customer. CSWs, particularly the inexperienced young ones, easily fall victim to rape, a weak negotiating power and temptation from relatively large sums of money in exchange for sex without condoms which make them easy victims to unsafe sex. Other factors that CSWs and ODs have to contend with in deciding to use a condom are to do with alcohol influence which reduces their reasoning capacity. 3.3 Expectations and Socio-cultural Considerations Having discussed issues of experiences, economic factors, environment, awareness and behaviour, it is necessary and important to re-examine expectations and socio-cultural considerations. Expectations and socio-cultural considerations in this study are examined from the point of view of all those who in one way or another have an interest or are directly or indirectly affected by commercial sex work. It includes the parents, the society in general, ODs and in particular CSWs themselves.

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The information gathered from parents/guardians, teachers, chiefs and even school pupils pertaining to their expectations can be summed up as an expression of hope that something will have to be done at least to reduce and at best to bring to an end the practice. Of course some of their suggestions are emotional and may not sound very practical but they are an expression of a desire to do something about the situation. For instance, there are those expressing a view that an immediate solution can be found through some form of government coercion, some are more realistic by preferring a gradual approach possibly involving civic education as well as councelling on the part of both CSWs and those on the verge of getting into the business. Civic education in this sense, is not only meant to target CSWs but also parents including communities. The cultural dimension, in this study, has also come out very clearly though differing in approach as seen in the two study areas. On the one hand, there are those as was the case with the information from both study areas who argue that, unlike in the past, the stage by stage councelling of the youth has been eroded living a cultural vacuum which is getting filled up by some undesirable imitated cultures largely responsible for commercial sex work. This, according to them, has been compounded by the almost drastic changes in the new, often misinterpreted, political dispensension. This view strongly advocates for resorting to the kind of step by step counselling of the youth which took into account their crucial stages of growth as a way to equip them with the necessary information for a responsible adulthood. On the other hand, there are those who argue that some of their cultural practices such as msondo, an initiation ceremony by the Yao, are responsible for encouraging the youth to get involved in early adolescent sex and as such expose them to unnecessary temptations which may lead to engaging in commercial sex work. However, the two views are not necessarily diametrically opposed but rather differ in terms of approach. It is convincingly argued that, whereas initiation ceremonies are important as a means of preparing the youth for adulthood, there is a need for the teaching/councelling and the information to be given to the youth in stages as opposed to the current practice where very young children are provided with too much information including advanced sexual knowledge. Several informants were of the view as well captured by one OD in Mzuzu, In case of where I come from, in Zomba, the Yao conduct initiation ceremonies for both young boys and girls of the age as low as 8-10 years. There is a lot of sex information given to them which they dont need at that age. According to him, this is child abuse. I am not saying that initiation ceremonies should end, no! They should continue but only to more mature girls of about 15-17 years of age.

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A comment has to be made on the differing point of views between those traditionalists who pin their hopes on the return to the cultural roots away from modernity and Christianity which they hold responsible for the bad tendencies in society including commercial sex work; and others who hold the view that the hope for positive change is through embracing religious teachings including Christianity. Again the differences between the two are not fundamental but rather superficial because it is simply based on approaches whereas the goal for both is the same. In fact neither side advocates for irresponsible behaviour which may lead to commercial sex work. On their part, it seems, as established in the study, almost every CSW plans and hopes to get married as a way of settling down. This alone is a way of self realisation that whatever they are doing as sex workers is not permanent, not sustainable and indeed a life style in transition. They know that they do not have the support of the society at large not even that of their neighbours and close relatives. This is most likely one of the main reasons that a significant number of CSWs interviewed expressed dissatisfaction with their business, some openly admitting that apart from being risky, it is not a respectable job. Even the very few who expressed satisfaction with their business expressed a desire and readiness to do something different once provided with the necessary support. The text extract below represents the experiences and the views held by most CSWs. Text 17 Feelings, Relationship and Expectations CSW 5 in Mzuzu
I am not happy with this work. I see that ndi ntchito yopanda pake (it is a useless and unreliable work). It is a risky job, it can kill you. People can harm me as I move around in these entertainment places. Yes, my close relatives know that I do this business (uhule). They have talked and talked and now they are tired of me. They have been saying to me that what will come out of the bars will be my own business. My aunt, my grand parents and my friends, all know about my business. They dont approve of my work. And I am concerned because when I get harmed they may not offer me any help. The relationship with my relatives is that they are not happy but I still visit them in their homes. The neighbours just look at me. I have never done anything else for a living apart from this work. Yes, I have plans to get married. There is already a man but I dont trust him because it is a long time ago he started talking about marriage. I have thought of doing something else if I can be given capital, say K1000 to start a business. I can start trading in sugar, paraffin or rice.

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Just like CSW 5, almost every other CSW interviewed expressed the desire for support to do something different mainly engaging in some form of trading. Some had had previous experiences in trading, sewing clothes, cooking, hair dressing, maize milling etc. to some of which, they thought, given the support, they could go back to. A few with previous married life experiences were not very keen to go back to it. A small group of seven wanted support to either go back to or continue with school. 4.0 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS This chapter presents some recommendations emanating from the study findings. Some of the recommendations are a modification of those suggested by some of the research subjects sampled during the data collection exercise whereas others are a result of interpretation of the data and information presented in this report. At the end of this chapter, a conclusion is drawn by attempting to provide a general sum up of the main issues highlighted in the study. 4.1 Recommendations The recommendations in this chapter are targeted on specific government as well as non-governmental institutions for possible implementation in form of specific interventions emanating from the study. The primary responsibility of bringing up children is on biological parents, however adult members of our communities should be encouraged through civic education involving local leaders to share the responsibility whenever and wherever possible as the case with our traditions and customs. This is necessary due to the fact that a significant number of adolescent CSWs are either orphans or left with single parents and secondly the consequences of adolescent commercial sex work affect not only the immediate families of the girls but also the community at large; Counselling and guidance for young girls and boys, should not be confined to the families and customary initiation ceremonies but should be practiced actively in schools as a way of preparing the adolescents for a responsible adulthood. The Ministry of Education should incorporate counselling services alongside the normal primary school curriculum just as is the case with physical education. This should not be left to teachers alone but some respected members from within the community can be invited from time to time to conduct counselling sessions;

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A debate, by relevant institutions, should be initiated targeting specific local leaders in specific communities which conduct initiation ceremonies for young girls and boys with a view to explore ways and means of ensuring that only reasonably grown up adolescents are given the kind of information which involves sex and sexuality. The available information has revealed that very young children as young as 8 year olds undergo such ceremonies; Following the introduction of free primary education, the government with communities support, should ensure that all school going age children are enrolled. Deliberate effort in form of a nation wide campaign should be intensified to include enacting of some by laws to force parents to send their children to school. This can best be achieved through the decentralisation in the pipeline. (note that most of the CSWs in the sample survey have either not been to school or dropped out of school at a very early age); With a very small fraction of primary school leavers getting enrolled in secondary schools there is an urgent need to strengthen and expand vocational training in various trades for primary school leavers. After all sufficient evidence from the study indicate that an overwhelming majority of the adolescent CSWs are without any basic skills which can make them engage in some form of self reliant activities. The Ministry of Education should identify some selected primary schools for introduction of vocational training alongside the normal curriculum as is the case with approved schools for juvenile offenders. The private sector should also be encouraged to open vocational training centres or incorporating the relevant training in their existing schools; The NGOs and other relevant bodies should be actively involved in coming up with relevant programmes aimed at awareness building on issues concerning adolescents including their rights, fears, and special needs. Such initiatives, as a matter of priority, may wish to target agents of the civil society such as schools, religious institutions, parents associations, local clubs, etc; The law restricting adolescents from entering entertainment places and buying alcoholic drinks in places such as bars and bottlestores should be better enforced with cooperation between the law enforcers, owners of the premises and the surrounding communities. The findings of this study have revealed that a lot has to be done to revive enforcement of the law which has hitherto been completely ignored at least in all the study areas covered. In fact the CSWs covered in this study indicated that they came into conflict

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with the law enforcers on charges of rogue and vagabond only. Surprisingly some of them were found working in the premises young as they were; 1. Unless the officials charged with the duty to administer the law restricting adolescents are fully aware of their responsibilities they can not be expected to discharge their duties accordingly. Therefore, there is urgent need to organise systematic and appropriate trainings for the law enforcers; 2. Appropriate mechanisms including punitive measures should be created within the law to check on the defaulters particularly owners of bars and bottlestores who allow entry or sell liquor to the under-age. Ways and means should be explored by relevant institutions, through the existing lending institutions, to set up a revolving fund, similar to the one for the youth and women, with a view to providing loans to the older adolescent CSWs for small businesses so as to get them off the streets and out of commercial sex work. Efforts from a similar recently launched programme in Lilongwe could be replicated elsewhere depending on the success of the exercise. The young adolescent CSWs between ages of 12 and 17 should be encouraged, under a special arrangement, to enroll for training in specific basic skills; Concerted efforts should be made to intensify the on-going campaigns against HIV/AIDS more effectively by targeting specific groups and places such as CSWs including the people frequenting the places where they operate. The information available suggests that the on-going campaigns have, to a large extent, been general in their target such that even CSWs do not feel they are at more risk than other groups as indicated in the study. 4.2 CONCLUSION The task of conducting a study on adolescent commercial sex workers is a necessary undertaking so as to generate relevant information and recommendations for coming up with appropriate interventions to improve the deteriorating situation. Conducting a study like this, is one thing, whereas efforts to implement recommendations from such a study is probably a more challenging task. However, Malawi, more than ever before, now has an opportunity in the new socio-political dispensation to take up the challenge and work towards a genuine transformation of the situation regarding the welfare of

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adolescents. In addition, more studies similar to this one should be encouraged so as to come up with more and more information for appropriate use. The mass of information resulting from this study has attempted to make a contribution by generating information regarding the backgrounds, problems, needs, benefits and risks among adolescent commercial sex workers. Focus has also been put on the question of why older men go out with such young girls. In addition, the study has shed some light on the social acceptance of adolescent sex workers including on the role parents play in influencing their daughters to engage in such business. In the discussions emanating from the findings, the study has explored various experiences, economic and environmental aspects of all the target subjects, awareness and behavioural patterns of the main players including matters of expectations and socio-cultural considerations. If this study report will succeed in provoking more interest in the welfare of adolescent commercial sex workers and an attempt to initiate implementation of some of the recommendations, then a significant accomplishment of the aims of this study will have been accomplished.

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References 1. Alam et al., 1991. Family Life Issues as Viewed by Men, Women and Teenagers in Malawi. FAO, Lilongwe. Unpublished. 2. Decosas, J. 1992. AIDS Education is Not Our only Weapon. In: Family Planning World, 2,1:4. 3. Kajawo, E. 1995. Report of a Freelance Commercial Sex Workers. K.A.P. Survey National AIDS Control Programme. Unpublished. 4. McAuliffe, E. 1994. AIDS: Barriers to Behaviour Change. University of Malawi, Centre for Social Research and UNICEF. Unpublished. 5. McAuliffe,E., Ntata, P. 1994. Youth and AIDS. University of Malawi, Centre for Social Research and UNICEF. Unpublished. 6. NACP 1995. Unpublished Reports. Lilongwe.

7. Roe, G. 1992. The Hidden Economy: An Exploration of the Income Generation and Survival Strategies of the Urban Poor. Centre for Social Research, University of Malawi, Zomba, Malawi. 8. Plummer, f., Ngugi, E.1994. Elements of Targeted Interventions. Focusing Interventions Among Vulnerable Groups for HIV Infection: Experiences from Eastern and Southern Africa NARESA.

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Appendix I:

Abbreviations ADMARC AIDS CHRR CSW EU FAO FGD HIV HRB OD PGT PP PR UNICEF Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation Commercial Sex Worker European Union Food and Agricultural Organisation Focus Group Discussion Human Immunodeficiency Virus Hotel Resthouse and Bottlestore Older Man Parents Guardians and Teachers Pupils Parent United Nations Children and Education Fund

Definitions of Terms Chindoko Chiwerewere Chizonono Hule Mabomu Msondo Syphilis Promiscuity Gonorrhoea Prostitute Chancroid A Yao initiation ceremony into adulthood

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Appendix II Data Collection Tools


QUESTIONS FOR SEX WORKERS SECTION ONE: DEMOGRAPHIC DATA 1. 2. 3. Study Location Date of Interview (day/month/year) Name of Interviewer

SECTION TWO: DEMOGRAPHIC DATA 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Surname and Other Names (Optional) Date of Birth and Age Place of Birth and Home District/Where did you grow up? Home Village and Traditional Authority Nationality and Tribe Present Address/contact Do you live with parents/guardians? If "Yes" what is their occupation? If "No" Give reasons for not living with parents and state who you with. What is your religious denomination? Have you ever attended school? If "Yes" Specify the highest level of education you attained. 10. Do you have children? If Yes, where are the children and state their age.

live 8. 9.

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SECTION THREE: ENVIRONMENT AND EXPERIENCES OF A SEX WORKER 1. 2. 3. 4. What made you become a sex worker? What are the benefits of your work? For how long have you been in this work? In what places do you normally get your customers?(hotels, bottle stores, on streets etc.) How do you identify and get your customers? And what are the difficulties involved? What time of the day do you conduct your business? And why? Most of your customers are from which age group? Which age group do you prefer? Where do you normally go with your customers?(guest houses, residences, cars, etc). Who normally decides where to go? What and how much do you get in return for your services? What is your average weekly income?

5.

6. 7.

8.

9. 10.

11. Are your customers always co-operative? If not, what sort of problems do you normally encounter? 12. What is the average number of customers do you have per week? Are they mostly the same people? If not, do the new ones outnumber the regular customers? Are your customers locals or foreigners?

13.

SECTION FOUR: AWARENESS 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Have you heard of STD? What do you know? Have you ever contracted STDs? How frequent? If Yes(to Q 2) when did you last contract STD? Have you heard of the disease called HIV/AIDS? Where did you get information about HIV/AIDS?

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6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

Which source of information did you find most helpful? Do you know how HIV/AIDS can be transmitted? Can HIV/AIDS be prevented? If Yes, how? Are you worried about getting HIV/ AIDS? Do you think your work puts you at a greater risk of contracting HIV/AIDS? Do you have any friend(s) who you think has contracted HIV/AIDS? How do you know? If you discovered that you had HIV/AIDS would you stop your business?

11.

12.

SECTION FIVE: BEHAVIOUR 1. 2. 3. 4. Do you practice safe sex with your customers? What do you use for safe sex? What type of sex do most of your customers like? What type of entertainment do most of your customers like?

5. Do you or your customers demand to use a condom? Who is normally the first to ask for the use of a condom? 6. Do you sometimes offer your services without a condom? If Yes, WHY? If you use where do you get them? Do you buy or receive condoms free of charge? What do your friends say about the use of a condom? For how long have you been using condoms?

7. 8. 9. 10.

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SECTION SIX: EXPECTATIONS AND SOCIO-CULTURAL ASPECTS 1. Are you happy and satisfied with your work? If NOT why?

2. Do your close relatives know the truth about what you do for a living? If YES, do they approve of it? 3. 4. 5. How would you describe your relationship with your relatives? Do you easily associate with your neighbours? If NOT why? Have you ever been in problem with the law enforcers as a result of your work? Have you ever done anything else for a living? What other work do you do apart from this one? Have you any plans to get married and settle down? Have you ever thought of doing something different? If YES what activity would you want to engage in? What assistance or support would you want for your future plans?

6. 7. 8. 9.

10.

11. Does your religion approve of your work? If NOT are you concerned?

TOPICS FOR FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSIONS AND IN-DEPTH INTERVIEWS Questions with parents/guardians/teachers of adolescents 1. Are you aware of the practice of adolescents exchanging sex for money? 2. 3. 4. in 5. 6. How did you come to know about the practice? Do you have any knowledge of the extent of this practice? What are some of the reasons you think prompt adolescents engage the practice? Do you have any adolescent girls under your guardianship? What relations are they to you?(daughter,nieces,etc)

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7.

Do you know of any particular girl(s) exchanging sex for money or materials? Do you approve the practice of adolescents exchanging sex for money?If NOT, what have you done to discourage the practice?

8.

9. Do you openly talk about the practice with friends/neighbours? If NOT WHY? 10. What suggestions do you have on how best to reduce or prevent the practice?

Questions with personnel of hotels,bars,bottle stores.

1.

Do you have any knowledge about the practice of adolescents exchange sex with money? How did you come to know about the practice? What are some of the reasons you think prompt adolescents engage the practice? Do you approve of the practice of adolescents exchanging sex for money? Do you know any adolescent exchanging sex for money personally? What is your general relationship with them? What suggestions do you have on how best to reduce or prevent the practice? Are you aware of what kind of places are used by the adolescents to establish contact with potential customers? Are you aware of the practice taking place on these premises? Are they allowed to operate on these premises freely?If NOT what is being done to them, when they come to the place? Do you keep condoms in stock for sale or free distribution?

2. 3. in 4.

5. 6. 7.

8.

9. 10.

11.

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Questions with older men

1. 2. 3.

Age And Occupation. Where do you live? Are you married and you have children? Do you have any knowledge about the practice of adolescents exchanging sex with money? How did you come to know about the practice? Do you have any knowledge of the extent of this practice? Do you approve of the practice of adolescents exchanging sex for money? Do you know any adolescent exchanging sex for money? What would be your reaction, if you learned that your daughter or under your guardianship was engaged in such practice? Do you know of particular places used by the adolescents to establish contact with their potential customers?

4. 5. 6.

7. 8. girl 9.

10.

Have you ever had an adolescent as sexual partner? If YES, what made you do it and what were your feelings afterwards?(happy, guilty, disappointed, etc?) 11. How often do you have adolescents as your sexual partners? If OFTEN: Do you practice safe sex with your partner? What do you use for safe sex? Do you or your partner demand to use a condom? Who is normally first to ask for the use of a condom?

a. b. c. the

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