IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/socmed/v345y2024ics0277953624000388.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Baiting the hook: Fish scarcity, gendered division of labour, and the fish-for-sex trade

Author

Listed:
  • Oswald, Grace

Abstract

Transactional sex in sub–Saharan Africa's fishing communities, driven by the highly gendered organisation of production, is widely recognised as a key driver of HIV transmission in lakeshore areas. This longitudinal study investigates the economic drivers of the trade and its impact on sexual health outcomes. Specifically, the impact of regional and district fish market shocks and comparable maize shocks on facility-level sexual health outcomes are examined in Tanzania's shoreline communities. Following unfavourable shocks to the fish market, such as high prices or low amounts of fish captured, this paper finds that new HIV cases, newly pregnant women attending antenatal clinic, and the number of people treated for syphilis increases with proximity to the shoreline, supporting the hypothesis that the fish-for-sex trade intensifies when fish supply is relatively scarce. Further, the observed increase in new HIV cases is driven by new cases in women. Contrasting effects are observed following maize price shocks, where facilities see an increase in both male and female new HIV cases following a favourable price shock. These findings highlight the role that gender-based organisation of production plays in shaping sexual health inequalities following shocks to a good.

Suggested Citation

  • Oswald, Grace, 2024. "Baiting the hook: Fish scarcity, gendered division of labour, and the fish-for-sex trade," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 345(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:345:y:2024:i:c:s0277953624000388
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2024.116594
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953624000388
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.socscimed.2024.116594?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Gong, Erick & de Walque, Damien & Dow, William H., 2019. "Coping with risk: Negative shocks, transactional sex, and the limitations of conditional cash transfers," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    2. Dunkle, Kristin L. & Jewkes, Rachel K. & Brown, Heather C. & Gray, Glenda E. & McIntryre, James A. & Harlow, Siobán D., 2004. "Transactional sex among women in Soweto, South Africa: prevalence, risk factors and association with HIV infection," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 59(8), pages 1581-1592, October.
    3. Béné, Christophe & Merten, Sonja, 2008. "Women and Fish-for-Sex: Transactional Sex, HIV/AIDS and Gender in African Fisheries," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 36(5), pages 875-899, May.
    4. Laura Dwyer-Lindgren & Michael A. Cork & Amber Sligar & Krista M. Steuben & Kate F. Wilson & Naomi R. Provost & Benjamin K. Mayala & John D. VanderHeide & Michael L. Collison & Jason B. Hall & Molly H, 2019. "Mapping HIV prevalence in sub-Saharan Africa between 2000 and 2017," Nature, Nature, vol. 570(7760), pages 189-193, June.
    5. Jonathan Robinson & Ethan Yeh, 2011. "Transactional Sex as a Response to Risk in Western Kenya," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 3(1), pages 35-64, January.
    6. Damian Boniface Sambuo & Stephen Kirama & Kitala Malamsha, 2021. "Fish Price Determination Around Lake Victoria, Tanzania: Analysis of Factors Affecting Fish Landing Price," Global Business Review, International Management Institute, vol. 22(2), pages 348-363, April.
    7. Caroline A Bulstra & Jan A C Hontelez & Federica Giardina & Richard Steen & Nico J D Nagelkerke & Till Bärnighausen & Sake J de Vlas, 2020. "Mapping and characterising areas with high levels of HIV transmission in sub-Saharan Africa: A geospatial analysis of national survey data," PLOS Medicine, Public Library of Science, vol. 17(3), pages 1-19, March.
    8. Mojola, Sanyu A., 2011. "Fishing in dangerous waters: Ecology, gender and economy in HIV risk," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 72(2), pages 149-156, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Stoebenau, Kirsten & Heise, Lori & Wamoyi, Joyce & Bobrova, Natalia, 2016. "Revisiting the understanding of “transactional sex” in sub-Saharan Africa: A review and synthesis of the literature," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 168(C), pages 186-197.
    2. Fiorella, Kathryn J. & Camlin, Carol S. & Salmen, Charles R. & Omondi, Ruth & Hickey, Matthew D. & Omollo, Dan O. & Milner, Erin M. & Bukusi, Elizabeth A. & Fernald, Lia C.H. & Brashares, Justin S., 2015. "Transactional Fish-for-Sex Relationships Amid Declining Fish Access in Kenya," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 323-332.
    3. Carole Treibich & Eleanor Bell & Elodie Blanc & Aurélia Lépine, 2022. "From a drought to HIV: An analysis of the effect of droughts on transactional sex and sexually transmitted infections in Malawi," Post-Print hal-03818619, HAL.
    4. Marshall Burke & Erick Gong & Kelly Jones, 2015. "Income Shocks and HIV in Africa," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 125(585), pages 1157-1189, June.
    5. Freedman, Jane & Rakotoarindrasata, Mina & de Dieu Randrianasolorivo, Jean, 2021. "Analysing the economies of transactional sex amongst young people: Case study of Madagascar," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    6. Camlin, Carol S. & Kwena, Zachary A. & Dworkin, Shari L. & Cohen, Craig R. & Bukusi, Elizabeth A., 2014. "“She mixes her business”: HIV transmission and acquisition risks among female migrants in western Kenya," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 146-156.
    7. MacPherson, Eleanor E. & Phiri, Mackwellings & Sadalaki, John & Nyongopa, Victoria & Desmond, Nicola & Mwapasa, Victor & Lalloo, David G. & Seeley, Janet & Theobald, Sally, 2020. "Sex, power, marginalisation and HIV amongst young fishermen in Malawi: Exploring intersecting inequalities," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 266(C).
    8. Jones, Kelly & Gong, Erick, 2021. "Precautionary savings and shock-coping behaviors: Effects of promoting mobile bank savings on transactional sex in Kenya," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    9. Salmen, Charles R. & Hickey, Matthew D. & Fiorella, Kathryn J. & Omollo, Dan & Ouma, Gor & Zoughbie, Daniel & Salmen, Marcus R. & Magerenge, Richard & Tessler, Robert & Campbell, Harold & Geng, Elvin , 2015. "“Wan Kanyakla” (We are together): Community transformations in Kenya following a social network intervention for HIV care," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 147(C), pages 332-340.
    10. Henry Cust & Aurélia Lépine & Carole Treibich & Timothy Powell‐Jackson & Rosalba Radice & Cheikh Tidiane Ndour, 2024. "Trading HIV for sheep: Risky sexual behavior and the response of female sex workers to Tabaski in Senegal," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 33(1), pages 153-193, January.
    11. Rachel E. Baker, 2020. "Climate change drives increase in modeled HIV prevalence," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 163(1), pages 237-252, November.
    12. Jubril O. Jawando & Ezekiel Oluwagbemiga Adeyemi, 2020. "Sexual Exchange and Cross-Border Trade: Implications for HIV/AIDS in Nigeria," SAGE Open, , vol. 10(2), pages 21582440209, May.
    13. Tomonori Hoshi & Yoshito Fuji & Samson Muuo Nzou & Chihiro Tanigawa & Ibrahim Kiche & Matilu Mwau & Anne Wanjiru Mwangi & Mohamed Karama & Kenji Hirayama & Kensuke Goto & Satoshi Kaneko, 2016. "Spatial Distributions of HIV Infection in an Endemic Area of Western Kenya: Guiding Information for Localized HIV Control and Prevention," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(2), pages 1-14, February.
    14. Gong, Erick & de Walque, Damien & Dow, William H., 2019. "Coping with risk: Negative shocks, transactional sex, and the limitations of conditional cash transfers," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    15. Béné, Christophe & Arthur, Robert & Norbury, Hannah & Allison, Edward H. & Beveridge, Malcolm & Bush, Simon & Campling, Liam & Leschen, Will & Little, David & Squires, Dale & Thilsted, Shakuntala H. &, 2016. "Contribution of Fisheries and Aquaculture to Food Security and Poverty Reduction: Assessing the Current Evidence," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 177-196.
    16. Pascaline Dupas & Sarah Green & Anthony Keats & Jonathan Robinson, 2014. "Challenges in Banking the Rural Poor: Evidence from Kenya's Western Province," NBER Chapters, in: African Successes, Volume III: Modernization and Development, pages 63-101, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    17. Jocelyn Elmes & Morten Skovdal & Kundai Nhongo & Helen Ward & Catherine Campbell & Timothy B Hallett & Constance Nyamukapa & Peter J White & Simon Gregson, 2017. "A reconfiguration of the sex trade: How social and structural changes in eastern Zimbabwe left women involved in sex work and transactional sex more vulnerable," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(2), pages 1-22, February.
    18. Hiroyuki Yamada & Yuki Kanayama & Kanako Yoshikawa & Kyaw Wai Aung, 2023. "Risk attitude, risky behaviour and price determination in the sex market: A case study of Yangon, Myanmar," Pacific Economic Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(5), pages 665-691, December.
    19. Akpalu, Wisdom & Vondolia, Godwin K. & Adom, Phillip K. & Peprah, Dorcas Asaah, 2023. "Passive Participation in Illegal Fishing and the Welfare of Fishmongers in a Developing Country," EfD Discussion Paper 23-9, Environment for Development, University of Gothenburg.
    20. Annika Lindskog & Dick Durevall, 2021. "To educate a woman and to educate a man: Gender‐specific sexual behavior and human immunodeficiency virus responses to an education reform in Botswana," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(3), pages 642-658, March.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:345:y:2024:i:c:s0277953624000388. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/315/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.