Metrics details. We explored how female sex workers in Nairobi, Kenya, utilize different resources to navigate the negative consequences of the work they do. Qualitative data were collected in October from 40 FSWs who were randomly sampled from women enrolled in the Maisha Fiti study, a 3-year longitudinal mixed-methods study exploring the relationship between HIV risk and violence and mental health.
All interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed and translated. Data were thematically coded and analyzed using Nvivo Before entry into sex work, all but one had at least one child. Providing for the children was expressed as the main reason the women joined sex work. All the women grew up in adverse circumstances such as poor financial backgrounds and some reported sexual and physical abuse as children.
They also continued to experience adversity in their adulthood including intimate partner violence as well as violence at the workplace. All the participants were noted to have utilised the resources they have to build resilience and cope with these adversities while remaining hopeful for the future. Motherhood was mentioned by most as the reason they have remained resilient. Coming together in groups and engaging with HIV prevention and treatment services were noted as important factors too in building resilience.
Despite the adverse experiences throughout the lives of FSWs, resilience was a key theme that emerged from this study. A holistic approach is needed in addressing the health needs of female sex workers. Encouraging FSWs to come together and advocating together for their needs is a key resource from which resilience and forbearance can grow.
Peer Review reports. In Kenya and many countries in sub-Saharan Africa, sex work remains illegal and those who make a living through this work are stigmatized and marginalized by others in the community [ 1 ]. As reported in other parts of the world, FSWs are also frequently victims of violations of human rights and basic human decencies such as having inadequate access to relevant health care services, a lack of justice due to punitive laws criminalizing sex work [ 5 ], and unlawful arrest and detention [ 6 ].
