Trading fish for sex in sub-Saharan Africa

Many women in developing countries earn a living from small-scale fisheries activities, especially from processing and trading fish. But in Africa, there have been increasing reports of male fishers exchanging fish for sex with female traders.

Fish-for-sex (FFS) refers to the practice in which female fish traders engage in sexual relationships with male fishers to secure their supply of fish. Until recently, this practice has not been widely documented. Research from the WorldFish Center, and the University of Basel, in Switzerland, analyses FFS, with reference to the wider literature on transactional sex, and gender and HIV/AIDS in fisheries.

The researchers use the example of a small-scale fishing community in the Kafue flats region of Zambia, and review other cases in the world. They demonstrate how economic impoverishment, which is often put forward to explain FFS transactions, is too simplistic to capture the complexity of the FFS phenomenon.

FFS is also often – but wrongly – compared with prostitution. Women who engage in FFS are subject to stigmatisation and marginalisation in their communities, reinforcing their already precarious economic and social situation.   

The researchers reviewed global research on FFS:

• FFS occurs throughout the developing world; the highest number of cases has been observed in sub-Saharan Africa, with 84 percent of cases reported in eastern and southern Africa.
• Most FFS occurs inland, particularly in lake fisheries.
• A large proportion of the women who engage in FFS are widows, divorced or single women, re-emphasising the relatively high vulnerability of this group to poverty.
• Not all women engaging in FFS are ‘victims’; some take an active, albeit unequal, part in the transaction.
• Sometimes, male fishers pressurise female traders into FFS by refusing to sell fish without sex.

At national or local levels, a legal ban on FFS would be difficult to implement, due to the lack of alternatives for the women involved. A more appropriate approach would be to reduce stigma and social exclusion, which arise from the connections between FFS and HIV and AIDS. Effective prevention campaigns must:

• recognise the unequal relationships between men and women in the fisheries sector
• train non-governmental organisations, fisheries departments, health care institutions and other public health staff to deal with FFS issues
• build on existing programmes for preventing sexually transmitted infections in the fisheries sector
• address the root causes of vulnerability, particularly for female headed households, and provide women with alternatives to FFS, for example through training, rural finance and support groups
• work closely with fishermen to change or influence their behaviour and attitudes regarding multiple sexual partners.

Source(s):
‘Women and Fish-for-Sex: Transactional Sex, HIV/AIDS and Gender in African Fisheries’, World Development, Volume 36 (5), pages 875 to 899, by Christophe Béné and Sonja Merten, 2008

Funded by: Sonja Merten’s field work was supported by the Swiss National Research Foundation and the Käthe-Zingg-Schwichtenberg fund, and Christophe Béné by the WorldFish Center.

id21 Research Highlight: 8 June 2009

Further Information:
Christophe Béné
The WorldFish Center
Africa Regional Office
Cairo
Egypt

Contact the contributor: worldfish-egypt@cgiar.org

WorldFish Center

University of Basel, Switzerland

Other related links:
'Women’s role in fish conservation in Bangladesh'

Eldis resource guide - fisheries

Eldis resource guide - HIV and AIDS