Table 2.
Characteristics of female sex workers and their pattern of work by type of geographic location
| Rural (3 sites) (N = 609) n (%) | Highway (3 sites) (N = 615) n (%) | Towns (9 sites) (N = 1953) n (%) | Cities (2 sites) (N = 614) n (%) | Bulawayo (N = 808) n (%) | Harare (N = 1497) n (%) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age (years) | ||||||
| Mean (SD) | 33 (9.4) | 32 (8.6) | 32 (8.5) | 34 (9.7) | 32 (9.3) | 31 (8.0) |
| Median (IQR) | 32 (11) | 31 (11) | 31 (11) | 33 (14) | 31 (13) | 31 (11) |
| Education | ||||||
| None | 28 (3.7) | 18 (3.9) | 64 (2.4) | 19 (2.6) | 7 (0.7) | 28 (1.8) |
| Primary | 188 (40.3) | 150 (26.3) | 544 (27.6) | 169 (22.8) | 186 (24.2) | 410 (28.9) |
| Secondary | 387 (55.8) | 444 (69.5) | 1339 (70.0) | 424 (74.3) | 607 (73.8) | 1056 (69.1) |
| Tertiary | 6 (0.2) | 2 (0.3) | 6 (0.1) | 2 (0.3) | 8 (1.3) | 2 (0.2) |
| Marital status | ||||||
| Divorced/separated | 408 (78.9) | 434 (71.6) | 1226 (63.0) | 370 (58.6) | 394 (48.1) | 1026 (70.3) |
| Widowed | 136 (17.6) | 99 (15.6) | 358 (12.0) | 130 (19.2) | 108 (13.1) | 217 (13.8) |
| Never been married | 63 (3.4) | 78 (12.4) | 335 (23.7) | 109 (21.7) | 285 (36.7) | 240 (14.8) |
| Married/cohabiting | 2 (0.1) | 4 (0.4) | 33 (1.3) | 5 (0.5) | 21 (2.1) | 14 (1.1) |
| Number of children <18 years | ||||||
| 0 | 93 (17.2) | 100 (15.5) | 306 (17.2) | 72 (11.6) | 158 (23.4) | 196 (12.9) |
| 1 to 2 | 313 (46.1) | 283 (47.0) | 1065 (58.1) | 348 (61.7) | 367 (43.2) | 765 (53.9) |
| ≥3 | 203 (36.7) | 232 (37.5) | 582 (24.7) | 194 (26.7) | 283 (33.4) | 536 (33.2) |
| Women aged <25 years with dependent children | ||||||
| No | 25 (23.6) | 36 (30.3) | 92 (23.3) | 22 (15.0) | 79 (42.4) | 72 (20.1) |
| Yes | 80 (76.4) | 79 (69.7) | 270 (76.7) | 91 (85.0) | 140 (57.6) | 140 (79.9) |
| Age at first selling sex (years) | ||||||
| Mean (SD) | 26 (7.7) | 26 (39.8) | 26 (23.1) | 25 (7.2) | 24 (7.2) | 25 (6.6) |
| Median (IQR) | 25 (10) | 24 (8) | 24 (9) | 24 (9) | 23 (10) | 24 (9) |
| Duration in sex work (years) | ||||||
| Mean (SD) | 8 (6.8) | 8 (6.6) | 7 (6.4) | 9 (7.7) | 7 (7.3) | 7 (5.7) |
| Median (IQR) | 5 (7) | 5 (8) | 5 (7) | 6 (10) | 5 (8) | 5 (6) |
| Venue for client recruitment | ||||||
| Bars/nightclubs/other venue | 342 (80.9) | 293 (56.9) | 1365 (81.5) | 411 (71.6) | 675 (84.8) | 939 (63.7) |
| By telephone | 24 (1.6) | 37 (6.1) | 120 (13.8) | 50 (12.1) | 22 (2.1) | 12 (0.8) |
| In the market place/street | 126 (16.0) | 143 (26.7) | 252 (4.4) | 71 (16.0) | 89 (11.2) | 501 (32.8) |
| Other | 98 (1.5) | 58 (10.3) | 139 (0.3) | 15 (0.3) | 21 (1.9) | 39 (2.7) |
| Number of clients in the last week | ||||||
| Mean (SD) | 7 (8.2) | 8 (8.2) | 8 (8.7) | 12 (13.5) | 8 (8.3) | 14 (15.4) |
| Median (IQR) | 5 (7) | 5 (7) | 5 (7) | 7 (11) | 5 (7) | 10 (15) |
| Currently have a steady partner | ||||||
| No | 221 (45.1) | 206 (31.9) | 722 (23.9) | 286 (49.7) | 262 (33.3) | 793 (52.8) |
| Yes | 388 (54.9) | 409 (68.1) | 1231 (76.1) | 328 (50.3) | 546 (66.7) | 704 (47.2) |
| Price per client – short time | ||||||
| <$5 | 548 (93.5) | 471 (76.6) | 1218 (24.3) | 359 (55.3) | 596 (74.7) | 1389 (93.8) |
| >$5 to $10 | 56 (6.2) | 127 (21.1) | 616 (68.8) | 169 (36.5) | 196 (24.0) | 91 (5.2) |
| >$10 to $20 | 2 (0.2) | 11 (2.1) | 47 (6.2) | 28 (7.0) | 11 (1.3) | 15 (1.0) |
| >$20 | 1 (0.1) | 1 (0.2) | 8 (0.7) | 2 (1.2) | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) |
| Proportion of income generated through sex work | ||||||
| <25% | 46 (9.6) | 31 (4.2) | 133 (2.4) | 39 (2.4) | 86 (6.6) | 238 (14.9) |
| 25% to 50% | 103 (6.7) | 108 (16.2) | 255 (11.2) | 75 (13.0) | 80 (7.9) | 210 (14.1) |
| >50% to 99% | 195 (13.6) | 233 (39.6) | 528 (27.8) | 177 (32.4) | 173 (21.7) | 258 (17.9) |
| 100% | 265 (70.1) | 243 (40.0) | 1031 (58.6) | 469 (52.2) | 469 (63.8) | 791 (53.1) |
| Relationship with other female sex workers | ||||||
| Good | 425 (57.6) | 429 (72.2) | 1294 (67.7) | 454 (72.5) | 559 (66.5) | 559 (58.2) |
| Neither good nor bad | 147 (36.2) | 160 (24.3) | 489 (20.9) | 121 (19.6) | 208 (28.8) | 208 (33.8) |
| Bad or no relationship | 36 (6.2) | 26 (3.4) | 168 (11.4) | 39 (7.9) | 41 (4.7) | 41 (8.0) |
| Frequency of alcohol use in past 12 months | ||||||
| Never | 216 (28.1) | 256 (42.6) | 692 (33.8) | 194 (29.8) | 172 (21.4) | 406 (26.5) |
| Once a month or less | 71 (15.2) | 66 (9.2) | 191 (9.2) | 84 (19.5) | 70 (8.9) | 165 (12.2) |
| 2 to 4 times per month | 54 (6.3) | 61 (9.5) | 312 (20.7) | 129 (22.3) | 87 (12.1) | 185 (13.5) |
| 2 to 3 times per week | 124 (25.9) | 121 (21.0) | 334 (15.4) | 82 (12.4) | 261 (33.8) | 399 (26.6) |
| 4 or more times per week | 144 (24.5) | 111 (17.7) | 421 (20.9) | 125 (16.0) | 125 (23.8) | 342 (21.2) |
| Experience of physical violence from steady partner | ||||||
| No | 322 (46.9) | 314 (49.5) | 1055 (64.2) | 327 (52.4) | 422 (58.4) | 708 (47.1) |
| Yes | 287 (53.1) | 301 (50.5) | 898 (35.8) | 287 (47.6) | 386 (41.6) | 789 (52.9) |
| Experience of physical violence from client | ||||||
| No | 464 (72.0) | 433 (72.2) | 1432 (82.5) | 450 (76.1) | 566 (74.9) | 952 (66.2) |
| Yes | 145 (28.0) | 182 (27.8) | 520 (17.5) | 164 (23.9) | 242 (25.1) | 545 (33.8) |
| Ever been raped | ||||||
| No | 570 (72.0) | 550 (72.2) | 1805 (82.5) | 581 (76.1) | 690 (74.9) | 1225 (66.2) |
| Yes | 39 (28.0) | 65 (27.8) | 148 (17.5) | 31 (23.9) | 118 (25.1) | 272 (27.8) |
| Experience of violence from police in the past 12 months | ||||||
| No | 568 (97.1) | 547 (91.7) | 1671 (93.0) | 550 (92.3) | 729 (90.3) | 1297 (87.4) |
| Yes | 40 (2.9) | 67 (8.3) | 265 (7.0) | 63 (7.7) | 78 (9.7) | 196 (12.6) |
| Condom use at last sex with client | ||||||
| No | 26 (5.2) | 20 (4.1) | 57 (2.9) | 28 (5.7) | 31 (4.9) | 57 (3.5) |
| Yes | 583 (94.8) | 595 (95.9) | 1885 (97.1) | 584 (94.3) | 776 (95.1) | 1439 (96.5) |
| Condom‐less sex with client in the past month | ||||||
| No | 400 (93.4) | 333 (52.4) | 1117 (70.9) | 384 (72.6) | 670 (83.0) | 1255 (81.5) |
| Yes | 173 (6.6) | 266 (47.6) | 684 (29.1) | 220 (27.4) | 138 (17.0) | 242 (18.5) |