Sexual Livelihoods

Citation:

Addison, Lincoln. 2014. “The Sexual Economy, Gender Relations and Narratives of Infant Death on a Tomato Farm in Northern South Africa.” Journal of Agrarian Change 14 (1): 74–93. doi:10.1111/joac.12008.

Author: Lincoln Addison

Abstract:

Based on an extended case study of a large-scale tomato farm in northern Limpopo province, the paper examines how the restructuring of agriculture transforms the sexual economy through shifts in the composition of labour and management practices on farms in this area. The employment of Zimbabwean migrants, rather than relatively permanent Venda families, suggests a potentially greater variety of people participating in the sexual economy. While families as units of employment have declined, black supervisors increasingly serve as a primary locus of coercion on the farm and in the sexual economy. The monetization of erstwhile paternalistic services places pressure on women to earn income however they can, including transactional sex. Contested interpretations over the causes of infant deaths on the farm, in the form of hygiene, blood-mixing and infanticide, provide an ethnographic framework for a deeper analysis of the sexual economy and its social effects. While the sexual economy presents opportunities for women to increase their income, it also exposes them to the risks of HIV/AIDS and unwanted pregnancies, resulting in contradictory implications for the status of women on farms.

Topics: Agriculture, Displacement & Migration, Migration, Gender, Women, Gendered Power Relations, Health, HIV/AIDS, Livelihoods, Sexual Livelihoods Regions: Africa, Southern Africa Countries: South Africa

Year: 2014

Citation:

Leppänen, Katarina. 2007. “Movement of Women: Trafficking in the Interwar Era.” Women’s Studies International Forum 30 (6): 523–33. 

Author: Katarina Leppänen

Abstract:

This article fills a gap in the histories describing the struggle to end trafficking and prostitution. The two main focal points of previous research are most often the movements against state regulated prostitution dated to the late 19th century and the fight against so called “white slavery”, on the one hand, and the modern trafficking and prostitution that emerged due to the concentration of large troops of armed forces during the Vietnam War in the 1960s, on the other hand. The period in between is seldom recognised as a time of great women's/feminist activity on the issue of prostitution and traffic in women.

The aim of the article is to show how the transition of the issue of prostitution developed from being mainly of national (even nationalistic) interest to becoming a matter of international concern. A shift in terminology opened for an internationalisation of the fight against trafficking.

Topics: Armed Conflict, Gender, Women, Livelihoods, Sexual Livelihoods, Trafficking, Human Trafficking

Year: 2007

Citation:

Portocarrero Lacayo, Ana Victoria. 2014. “Service Is Not Servitude: Links Between Capitalism and Feminist Liberal Conceptions of Pleasure — Case Studies from Nicaragua.” International Journal of Politics, Culture, and Society 27 (2): 221–39. doi:10.1007/s10767-013-9158-3.

Author: Lacayo Portocarrero

Abstract:

This paper describes how the way in which women learn to serve others (children, the elderly, partners) influences their possibilities of accessing material and symbolic resources, which have been instrumental for the deployment of neoliberal capitalism in Nicaragua. Through the exploration of the work of two feminist organisations, La Corriente and Grupo Venancia, and of the interviews with the women they work with, I trace the direct and more subtle links between sex and neoliberal capitalism, identifiable in the discourse on sexual pleasure that these organisations use when working with women. Building on the work of scholars coming from disciplines as varied as political economy, sociology, feminist economics, gender and sexuality and postcolonial studies, I argue that while this discourse on sexual pleasure does challenge certain elements of the neoliberal capitalist system and brings positive changes to women, it also contains several risks due to its modern and individualistic imperatives, which can actually reinforce capitalist relations and inequalities. These include the risk of validating and universalising certain sexual knowledge, the risk of diminishing and depoliticising the value of service, and that of building the freedom of some women at the expense of others. The paper advocates for a review of the discourse on pleasure and the reclaiming of the concept of ‘service’ as a political stance against neoliberal capitalism

Keywords: service, pleasure, capitalism, feminism, Nicaragua

Topics: Civil Society, Feminisms, Gender, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality, Livelihoods, Sexual Livelihoods, Political Economies, Sexuality Regions: Americas, Central America Countries: Nicaragua

Year: 2014

Citation:

Rokvić, Vanja, and Svetlana Stanarević. 2016. “Toward Gender and LGBT Equality in the Serbian Armed Forces.” Women’s Studies International Forum 55 (March): 26–34.

Authors: Vanja Rokvić , Svetlana Stanarević

Annotation:

This article focuses on gender equality in the Serbian Armed Forces (SAF), discussing both gender equality and sexual orientation equality (LGBT equality). Based on the examination of researches and other data, this article concludes that despite the positive shifts granting women the right to military education and professional military service, women continue to be a minority in the SAF. The article further concludes that while there is no official discriminatory policy as regards the admission of members of the LGBT population to the armed forces in Serbia, the few researches into this issue have revealed deeply ingrained views according to which the presence of homosexuals in the armed forces compromises cohesion and leads to unit conflict and division. Finally, the article concludes that a social context ruled by stereotypes and negative attitudes is not conducive to creating conditions for equal opportunity for all, regardless of sex, sexual orientation or gender identity, and that it will take a time before complete equality and diversity are attained in the SAF -Elsevier

Topics: Gender, Women, Men, Gender Roles, LGBTQ, Livelihoods, Sexual Livelihoods, Military Forces & Armed Groups, Militaries, Sexuality Regions: Europe, Balkans, Eastern Europe Countries: Serbia

Year: 2016

Citation:

Yea, Sallie. 2012. “‘Shades of Grey’: Spaces In and Beyond Trafficking for Thai Women Involved in Commercial Sexual Labour in Sydney and Singapore.” Gender, Place & Culture 19 (1): 42–60. doi:10.1080/0966369X.2011.617906.

Author: Sallie Yea

Abstract:

In this article I explore the migration trajectories of some Thai women trafficked internationally for commercial sexual exploitation, suggesting that many figuratively ‘cross the border’ between coerced and consensual existence in volatile migrant sex industries during the course of their migration experiences, thus complicating debates around the notion of choice in ‘sex’ trafficking. In exploring these women's transitions I seek to understand why women who had either never previously been sex workers or who were sex workers operating without duress, but who were then trafficked for commercial sexual exploitation remain in, or re-enter volatile forms of migrant sex work at a later point under voluntary arrangements. In answering this question I focus on the temporal and spatial aspects of individual women's experiences in migrant sex industries drawing in detail on the narratives of two Thai women trafficked to Sydney, Australia and Singapore. I make some suggestions about methodologies used in trafficking research that can assist in bringing to light some of these complex time–space dimensions of women's experiences through their shifting positions in commercial sexual labour. The article also reflects on the implications of these women's trajectories for the ‘prostitution debate’ as it relates to trafficking for commercial sexual exploitation by suggesting that many trafficked women occupy ambiguous or in-between positions in migrant sex industries, neither easily distinguishable by the label of victim of trafficking or migrant sex worker.

Keywords: sex trafficking, commercial sexual labour, methodologies, migration trajectories, Thailand

Topics: Displacement & Migration, Forced Migration, Gender, Women, Livelihoods, Sexual Livelihoods, Political Economies, Sexual Violence, Sexual Exploitation and Abuse, Sexual Slavery, Trafficking, Human Trafficking, Sex Trafficking Regions: Asia, Southeast Asia Countries: Thailand

Year: 2012

Citation:

Bélair, Karine. 2006. “Unearthing the Customary Law Foundations of ‘Forced Marriages’ During Sierra Leone’s Civil War: The Possible Impact of International Criminal Law on Customary Marriage and Women’s Rights in Post-Conflict Sierra Leone.” Columbia Journal of Gender and Law 15 (3).

Author: Karine Bélair

Topics: Gender, Women, Gendered Power Relations, International Law, International Criminal Law, Livelihoods, Sexual Livelihoods, Post-Conflict, Sexual Violence, Sexual Slavery Regions: Africa, West Africa Countries: Sierra Leone

Year: 2006

Citation: Annan, Jeannie, Christopher Blattman, Khristopher Carlson, and Dyan Mazurana. 2008. “The State of Female Youth in Northern Uganda: Findings from the Survey of War-Affected Youth (SWAY) Phase II.” II. Survey of War-Affected Youth.