Social support, sexual violence, and transactional sex among female transnational migrants to South Africa

M. Giorgio, L. Townsend, Y. Zembe, S. Guttmacher, F. Kapadia, M. Cheyip and C. Mathews

American Journal of Public Health, 2016, vol. 106, issue 6, 1123-1129

Abstract: Objectives. To examine the relationship between sexual violence and transactional sex and assess the impact of social support on this relationship among female transnational migrants in Cape Town, South Africa. Methods. In 2012 we administered a behavioral risk factor survey using respondentdriven sampling to transnational migrant women aged between 16 and 39 years, born outside South Africa, living in Cape Town, and speaking English, Shona, Swahili, Lingala, Kirundi, Kinyarwanda, French, or Somali. Results. Controlling for study covariates, travel-phase sexual violence was positively associated with engagement in transactional sex (adjusted prevalence ratio [APR] = 1.38; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.07, 1.77), and social support was shown to be a protective factor (APR = 0.84; 95% CI = 0.75, 0.95). The interaction of experienced sexual violence during migration and social support score was APR = 0.85 (95% CI = 0.66, 1.10). In the stratified analysis, we found an increased risk of transactional sex among the low social support group (APR = 1.56; 95% CI = 1.22, 2.00). This relationship was not statistically significant among the moderateor high social support group (APR = 1.04; 95% CI = 0.58, 1.87). Conclusions. Programs designed to strengthen social support may reduce transactional sex among migrant women after they have settled in their receiving communities.

Keywords: adolescent; adult; confidence interval; female; human; human experiment; human tissue; migrant; prevalence; risk factor; sampling; sexual violence; social support; South Africa; speech; transactional sex; travel; migration; psychology; sex worker; sexual crime; South Africa, Adolescent; Adult; Female; Humans; Risk Factors; Sex Offenses; Sex Workers; Social Support; South Africa; Transients and Migrants (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:aph:ajpbhl:10.2105/ajph.2016.303107_2

DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2016.303107

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