title: Female sex workers' empowerment strategies amid HIV-related socioeconomic vulnerabilities in Cameroon.
abstract: Research has consistently demonstrated that female sex workers use a variety of empowerment strategies to protect one another and their families. This study examines the strategies Cameroonian sex workers employ to do so. In-depth interviews and focus-group discussions were conducted with 100 sex workers. Coded texts were analysed for recurring themes. Sex workers reported being concerned with physical violence and sexual assault and demands from authorities for bribes to avoid fines and/or imprisonment. Women described strategies such as 'looking out for' each other when faced with security threats. Many reported staying in sex work to provide for their children through education and other circumstances to allow them to lead a better life. Sex worker mothers reported not using condoms when clients offered higher pay, or with intimate partners, even when they understood the risk of HIV transmission to themselves. Concern for their children's quality of life took precedence over HIV-related risks, even when sex workers were the children's primary carers. A sex worker empowerment programme with a focus on family-oriented services could offer an effective and novel approach to increasing coverage of HIV prevention, treatment and care in Cameroon.
authors.affiliation: a Center for Public Health and Human Rights, Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health , Baltimore , USA.|b Department of Health Sciences , Lehman College, The City University of New York , New York City , USA.
authors.forename: Charles W
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Cange
authors.affiliation: c Global Viral Cameroon , Yaoundé , Cameroon.
authors.forename: Matthew
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: LeBreton
authors.affiliation: d Metabiota , San Francisco , USA.
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Saylors
authors.affiliation: e Comité national de lutte contre le sida , Ministère de la Santé Publique , Yaoundé , Cameroun.
authors.forename: Serge
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Billong
authors.affiliation: c Global Viral Cameroon , Yaoundé , Cameroon.
authors.forename: Ubald
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Tamoufe
authors.affiliation: f Cameroon Women's Medical Association (CMWA) , Bamenda , Cameroon.
authors.forename: Pamella
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Fokam
authors.affiliation: a Center for Public Health and Human Rights, Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health , Baltimore , USA.
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Baral
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002163:Cameroon; D017280:Condoms / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D017144:Focus Groups; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008875:Middle Aged; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology; D011209:Power, Psychological; D012307:Risk Factors; D060386:Sex Workers / Q000523:psychology*; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors
keywords: Cameroon; HIV prevention; empowerment; female sex work; motherhood; social cohesion