No sex for fish: empowering women to promote health and economic opportunity in a localized place in Kenya

Abstract

A pervasive cultural practice called 'jaboya' or women trading sex for fish exists at Nyamware Beach, on Lake Victoria in Kenya, where the fishing industry is the primary source of income. This case study describes how an innovative market-based solution succeeded in changing the gender dynamics on Nyamware beach and empowering women with the means of production in the industry. Over the course of 6 months, three boats were built for women to own and manage, and 29 women and 20 men received business skills training while establishing local community savings and loans associations. This project succeeded in quickly adjusting the economic imbalance that previously left women few options but to exchange sex to purchase the best fish for food and for distribution. Participating women applied resulting increased income to school fees for children and toward their households and businesses. Women owning businesses, earning income and gaining a voice in the community has changed the gender dynamics of men working on the boats for women and has positively altered the perception of women in the community. Additionally, this project offers potential health benefits such as a reduction in the transmission of HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections due to reduced rates of transactional sex, and reduced rates of depression, alcohol abuse and post-traumatic stress disorder from transactional sex, which can be traumatic. The success of this project demonstrates that small and innovative approaches addressing root causes of economic and social inequality can improve health and promote sustainable economic development.

Artisanal fishing supports breeding of malaria mosquitoes in Western Kenya

“…The water prevents the wood from cracking. Boats not-in-use are normally stationed ashore [6, 12] during months when fishing is illegal [4, 56, 57], when fish catches are significantly low, when actors are off duty and during tumultuous party times when fishermen revel after receiving cash bonuses from their cooperative societies. That aside, it is unlikely that the larvae found in boats were introduced through the maintenance process.…”

“…Second, cross-sectional studies tend to identify a high proportion of prevalent (rather than incident) cases/outcomes. By dialoguing with community actors it was learnt that boats containing water were parked ashore just for a few hours or days [6, 77]. Thus, it is unlikely that most of the breeding occurring in boats resulted from boats overstaying with water.…”

“…Everyday hundreds of people, mainly men, depart from home to participate in a vibrant artisanal capture fishing industry in Kenya’s Lake Victoria fishery [1–3]. This industry forms the primary income source for the locals [1, 4–6]. Landed fish is hardly consumed within the fishers’ households [7] due to the small stock sizes [8].…”

Efficacy of HIV interventions in African fishing communities: A systematic review and qualitative synthesis

“…Five studies, one quantitative and four qualitative, assessed financial interventions to combat HIV in African fishing communities (Hüsken and Heck 2012;MacPherson et al 2015;Nevin et al 2015;Nathenson et al 2017;Kiene et al 2019) Establishing community savings groups to improve saving skills was successful in two studies: the 'No sex for fish' (Nathenson et al 2017) and 'Fish Trader +' (Hüsken and Heck 2012) projects. The latter was coupled with a health promotion campaign, and by the end, members were promoting healthy behaviors and sharing information about HIV.…”

“…The 'No sex for fish' project involved the use of material aid (Nathenson et al 2017). Women in Kisumu Country, Kenya, were supplied with three boats to manage, which eventually increased their income to five times the Kenyan minimum wage.…”