Paper short abstract:

This paper assesses ‘feminization of survival’ through Mombasa sex workers’ life stories. Sex workers’ narratives reveal global and local socio-economic structures affecting Kenyan women, and speak about changing gender power relations in society.

Paper long abstract:

The life stories of Mombasa's sex workers are revealing regarding the structures that define possibilities for women in the Kenyan economy. The majority of women who trade sex are doing so because of poverty. One reason leading to poor living conditions is loss of a breadwinner in a family. Yet, it is important to acknowledge another type of poverty - when women have jobs but still struggle to survive, because of the low income that these jobs bring. The economic problems that affect women have grown as a response to the effects of economic globalization in Kenya.

Patriarchal structures define the possibilities available for women to a great degree. Most of the options for survival and living are defined in relationship to a man; and thus, many sex workers connect sex trade to the poverty that followed the loss of their husbands or fathers (divorce or death). As sex workers rarely belong to a male-headed household, they are no longer under male provision and control. However, despite a woman's supposed independence, they still have their patriarchal responsibilities of family care and the majority of them are heads of female-headed households.

Neo-liberal restructuring made it more difficult for men to take care of their families and presented women with new opportunities in the labour market. This paper will argue that these new realities have challenged traditional gender hierarchies to some extent; however the unequal gender power relations remain, because neo-liberal markets build on existing inequalities.