Beyond exploitation: towards a nuanced understanding of agency for adolescent female sex workers – evidence from Zanzibar and Morogoro

Adolescent female sex workers, despite facing severe constraints on their agency compared to adults, employ coping strategies that allow them to navigate their circumstances, demonstrating varying degrees of individual or collective agency. This nuanced understanding challenges the notion that adolescent agency is entirely compromised and highlights the need for tailored harm reduction and rehabilitative interventions. The study, conducted in Stone Town (Zanzibar) and Morogoro (Tanzania), involved 19 in-depth interviews with young sex workers (aged 18 or younger at entry) and 20 key informant interviews with adults and peer educators from ZAYEDESA, a local organization. These findings underscore the importance of recognizing adolescent agency to better address their unique needs.

Van Bavel, H. (2016). Beyond exploitation: towards a nuanced understanding of agency for adolescent female sex workers – evidence from Zanzibar and Morogoro. Culture, Health & Sexuality, 19(1), 76–90. https://doi.org/10.1080/13691058.2016.1207253