Sexual networks in Uganda: Casual and commercial sex in a trading town

Abstract

A longitudinal study of the sexual behaviour of high-risk men and women living in a trading town on the trans-Africa highway showed that distinct sexual networks operated within the town. Forty-eight prostitutes kept daily records for 6 months of all their sexual contacts including the occupation and place of residence of each client and the price paid. Details of 4573 sexual contacts of the women were recorded. Three classes of women were identified: (1) 20 'high-class' women who charged a mean price of over US$ 4/- per contact. The majority of their clients were from large urban areas of Uganda (55%) or neighbouring countries (32%)-70% were truck-drivers or their mates; (2) 18 'low-class' women, charging an average of US$ 0.4 per contact, who were patronized predominantly by men resident in the town (71%) who were unskilled casual workers (58%); (3) 10 women fell into an intermediate category in terms of price and the residence of their clients. Thirty-eight male potential clients were recruited in low-cost bars where some of the women worked. They provided similar details of their daily sexual contacts. All were resident in the town and 22 had occupations which were classified as unskilled. Of the 1621 sexual contacts recorded by the men 25% were with new partners.