Female Garment Factory Workers in Cambodia: Migration, Sex Work and HIV/AIDS

Abstract

Female garment factory workers in Cambodia are more exposed to HIV/AIDS than previously thought. Although HIV/AIDS epidemics are fast spreading in Cambodia, relatively little is known about the sexual health of women other than those perceived as commercial sex workers or married women of reproductive age. In-depth interviews with 20 unmarried female garment factory workers, who reported to have engaged in multi-partnered sex through direct or discretionary commercial sex occupations, demonstrate that they are exposed to HIV-risk created along the gradients of power. Low socioeconomic status (low education, meager factory wage and high dependency rate at their rural households) and obligations as daughters to provide for the family mainly determine their entry into sex work. At the location of sex work, they are subjected to physical violence, alcohol and drug use, both self-taken and forced, and receive meager wages. In a society where women are expected to be virtuous and obedient to parents and husbands, these workers are motivated to identify male sex partners in paid sex as "sweethearts" rather than "guests." These factors contribute to low consistency of condom use. This paper demonstrates the complex interrelationships between power, cultural definitions of intimacy and economic dependency, which structure sexual relationships and the risk of HIV/AIDS.

The Role of Relationship Intimacy in Consistent Condom Use Among Female Sex Workers and Their Regular Paying Partners in the Dominican Republic

“…Yet recent research conducted across distinct socio-cultural contexts has found that female sex workers often have a variety of paying partner types that range in levels of perceived relationship intimacy. Such studies have found that condom use rates among sex workers and their paying partners vary based on whether these relationships are regular versus casual in nature (Kerrigan, Moreno, Rosario, & Sweat, 2001;Mgalla & Pool 1997;Nishigaya, 2002;Outwater et al, 2000;Pickering, Quigley, Hayes, Todd, & Wilkins, 1993;Wawer, Podhisita, Kanungsukkasem, Pramualratana, & McNamara, 1996). These studies suggest that even within the context of commercial sex, relationship intimacy may be a key determinant of unprotected sex between sex workers and their regular paying partners.…”

Life in the big city: The multiple vulnerabilities of migrant Cambodian garment factory workers to HIV

“…In a wide search of multiple databases (CINAHL, Embase, Medline, Psychinfo, Genderwatch, Women's Studies International, eHRAF Collection of Ethnography and Sociologic Abstracts) using the key words "Cambodia", "migration", and "HIV", only a single study on garment factory workers was found (Nishigaya, 2002). Beyond this, there are a limited number of studies published elsewhere and in the grey literature.…”

“…The paucity of research on this population is strong rationale for the importance of this research. Nishigaya (2002) described the findings of interviews with twenty garment factory workers who supplemented their income by work in the sex trade. She explored the women"s reasons for engaging in sex work, their working conditions in the sex industry, their "sweetheart" relationships, and their partners" use of condoms.…”

“…A review of the international literature (Webber, 2007) has demonstrated that women who have migrated within their country or across international borders are particularly vulnerable to HIV as a result of limited access to health care, the change in norms and social supports in their new environments, and, as was found by Nishigaya (2002), lack of sufficient income that results in the economic need for generating income through sex work. Health care access provides opportunities for education about safer sexual relations, access to condoms, and early diagnosis and treatment of sexually transmitted infections that may contribute to HIV vulnerability.…”

Women are Silver, Women are Diamonds: Conflicting Images of Women in the Cambodian Print Media

“…Poverty drives a level of complicity with poor rural families, who receive financial incentives to entrust their girls to agents in return for false assurances of work as cooks, maids, waitresses and factory workers. 49 The direct links to poor education, child labour and poverty are broadly reported, 50,51 with migration from remote areas to Phnom Penh in order to find employment seen as part of the journey towards sexual exploitation. 52 An almost inevitable association between sexual exploitation and Western tourism is drawn:…”