Intention, barriers and opportunities to exit from commercial sex work among female sex workers in Ethiopia: Qualitative study

Abstract

Introduction: Commercial sex work exposes women to countless risks and exit is often recommended as an essential strategy to evade associated risks. The intentions to exit can predict commercial sex workers' motivation towards the detachment of the sex work. Objectives: The purpose of this study is to explore intention, barriers, and facilitating situations to exit from commercial sex work among female sex workers in Dire Dawa, Ethiopia. Methods: We conducted qualitative research among 18 female sex workers using in-depth interview. The data collection was done in the local language, we transcribed the recorded data and translated it to English before exporting to ATLASti7 to facilitate the data analysis process. We used respondent driven sampling to recruit study participants. We implemented an inductive thematic analysis approach for the data analysis. Results: The women had a strong intention to exit. They intended to give up on commercial sex work. Certain barrier needs to be addressed such as financial insecurity, social stigma, and discrimination, skill gap, lack of support, and poor education status before their successful exit. The need for financial supports to open a private business and strong motivation was identified as one of the opportunities for a successful exit from commercial sex work. Conclusion: Women had a strong intention to exit from commercial sex work, but equally demanded support for alternative livelihood. It is important that government and other stakeholders need to provide comprehensive support to commercial sex workers like financial support, filling in the skill gap and improving poor saving habits through training, and establish functioning rehabilitation centers for drug addict women.