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Transactional Sex as a Response to Risk in Western Kenya

ACCESS TO HEALTH SERVICES ADOLESCENT ADOLESCENT GIRLS AGED AIDS EPIDEMIC ALCOHOL ANAL INTERCOURSE ANAL SEX BEHAVIOR CHANGE BURNS CHILDHOOD CLEANLINESS COMMERCIAL SEX COMMERCIAL SEX MARKET COMMERCIAL SEX WORK COMMERCIAL SEX WORKERS CONDOM CONDOM DISTRIBUTION CONDOM USE CONDOMS CS CULTURAL CHANGE CULTURAL SENSITIVITY DEVELOPING COUNTRIES DIARRHEA EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT EMOTIONAL SUPPORT ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION EPIDEMIC EPIDEMIOLOGY FACT SHEET FAMILIES FAMILY BACKGROUND FAMILY MEMBERS FAMILY PLANNING FEMALE FEMALE SEX WORKERS FEVER FEWER WOMEN FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSIONS HEALTH CONSEQUENCES HEALTH INTERVENTIONS HEALTH RISKS HETEROSEXUAL TRANSMISSION HIGH-RISK HIV HIV EDUCATION HIV INFECTION HIV POSITIVE HIV PREVENTION HIV TRANSMISSION HIV/AIDS HOUSEHOLD NUMBER HUMAN CAPITAL ILLITERATE WOMAN ILLITERATE WOMEN ILLNESS ILLNESSES INCOME SECURITY INFECTIONS INFECTIOUS DISEASE INFECTIOUS DISEASES INJURIES INTERCOURSE INTERVENTION LABOR SUPPLY LEADING CAUSE OF DEATH LOW-INCOME COUNTRIES MALARIA MARITAL STATUS MARRIED WOMEN MEDICAL ANTHROPOLOGY MEDICINE MIGRATION MINISTRY OF HEALTH MORBIDITY MORTALITY MULTIPLE PARTNERS NATIONAL AIDS NATIONAL AIDS CONTROL NEGATIVE HEALTH CONSEQUENCES NUMBER OF WOMEN NURSE ORAL SEX PEER EDUCATOR PEER EDUCATORS PEER GROUP PEER GROUPS POLICY RESEARCH POLICY RESEARCH WORKING PAPER POOR WOMEN POORER WOMEN POPULATION AND DEVELOPMENT POPULATION CENSUS PREGNANCY PREVALENCE PRIMARY SCHOOL PROGRESS PROSTITUTES PROSTITUTION PSYCHIATRY PUBLIC HEALTH QUALITY OF LIFE RESPECT RESTAURANTS RISK FACTORS RISK OF INFECTION RISK REDUCTION RISKY BEHAVIOR RISKY SEX RISKY SEXUAL BEHAVIOR RURAL AREAS RURAL POPULATION SAFE SEX SEX SEX FOR MONEY SEX INDUSTRY SEX PARTNERS SEX WORKER SEX WORKERS SEXUAL ACTIVITIES SEXUAL BEHAVIOR SEXUAL ENCOUNTERS SEXUAL PARTNERS SEXUAL RELATIONSHIPS SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED DISEASES SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED INFECTION SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED INFECTIONS SOCIAL SCIENCE STD STIS SYMPTOMS TEENAGE PREGNANCY TV TYPHOID UNPROTECTED SEX UNPROTECTED SEX ACTS VAGINAL SEX VIOLENCE VULNERABILITY WOMAN
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Africa | Africa | Sub-Saharan Africa | East Africa | Kenya
2012-03-19T19:09:08Z | 2012-03-19T19:09:08Z | 2009-03-01

Formal and informal commercial sex work is a way of life for many poor women in developing countries. Though sex workers have long been identified as crucial in affecting the spread of HIV/AIDS, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa, the nature of sex-for-money transactions remains poorly understood. Using a unique panel dataset constructed from 192 self-reported sex worker diaries which include detailed information on sexual behavior, labor supply, and health shocks, the authors find that sex workers adjust their supply of risky, better compensated sex to cope with unexpected health shocks, exposing themselves to increased risk of HIV infection. In particular, women are 3.1 percent more likely to see a client, 21.2 percent more likely to have anal sex, and 19.1 percent more likely to have unprotected sex on days in which a household member falls ill. Women also increase their supply of risky sex on days after missing work due to symptoms from a sexually transmitted infection. Given that HIV prevalence has been estimated at 9.8 percent in this part of Kenya, these behavioral responses entail significant health risks for sex workers and their partners, and suggest that sex workers are unable to cope with risk through other formal or informal consumption smoothing mechanisms.

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