You have full access to this open access chapter. This case study is written as a personal story by an outside support worker starting to engage with sex workers, a vulnerable and stigmatized population in a Nairobi slum. We hope the shared experiences will give better insight into the difficulties faced by members of this key population as they eke out a living. It is also a positive case study, not one of exploitation , despite sex work being illegal in Kenya.
This case study shows that equitable relationships between researchers and research participants are about a lot more than informed consent. For instance, the higher level of research literacy among the sex workers that was achieved in the Majengo clinic is a model for others to follow. You have full access to this open access chapter, Download chapter PDF. I began my assignment by visiting the Majengo slum where SWOP runs a health clinic targeting sex workers living in and working from these informal settlements.
I am Kenyan with a background in social work and public health. My public health interest is in HIV prevention, while my social work interest is in interventions. My hope is to build a strong foundation to improve the health and well-being of vulnerable and stigmatized communities such as LGBTs lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons and sex workers.
I have lived in Nairobi for the greater part of my life, but like most Kenyans I had never visited a slum in Kenya. I was prepared for the unexpected, but it was like going to a different world. What struck me first were the overcrowding and the variety of activities that the residents engaged in for survival. The area is densely populated; it felt like being in a city within a city. The road we tried to drive along to access the slum was full of people selling second-hand shoes, clothes and household items.
We had to stop and wait for close to ten minutes for the hawkers to clear a path β like parting the Red Sea β so that we could get into the clinic compound. I took a walk with a health worker from the Majengo sex workers clinic to meet some of the sex workers who live and work in the area.
