The moral economy of sex work in Mombasa, Kenya

Abstract

This paper investigates the process of individuals trying to figure out how the neoliberal economy works by focusing on women selling sex in Mombasa, Kenya. The article will explore the key tensions prevailing in sex work through encounters with supernatural forces narrated by women selling sex. The analysis presented will argue that there are two key tensions that define the moral economy of sex work in Mombasa: the strong stratification among sex workers that position a minority of already better off women in more advantageous ways, thereby leaving most others in precarity; and worries about changing masculinities that result in men who are non-human. Both of those tensions signify the anxieties surrounding an occupation that historically allowed women to accumulate capital and re-insert themselves into Kenyan society in more advantageous positions (see for instance, White 1990, Bujra 1977). Furthermore, the contemporary lived realities of selling sex also speak to the processes of neoliberalisation that are internalised by women selling sex and are becoming a key feature of contemporary commercial sex work.

Cet article étudie le processus des personnes essayant de comprendre comment fonctionne l’économie néolibérale et se concentre pour cela sur les femmes qui vendent des services sexuels à Mombasa, au Kenya. L’article explore les principales tensions qui prévalent dans le travail du sexe à travers des rencontres avec des forces surnaturelles racontées par des femmes vendant du sexe. L’analyse présentée soutient que deux tensions principales définissent l’économie morale du travail du sexe à Mombasa: la forte stratification parmi les travailleuses du sexe qui situe une minorité de femmes déjà mieux loties de façon plus avantageuse, laissant ainsi la plus grande partie des autres dans la précarité; et les inquiétudes concernant l’évolution des masculinités qui se traduisent par des hommes qui sont inhumains. Ces deux tensions soulignent les angoisses entourant une profession qui historiquement a permis aux femmes d’accumuler du capital et de se réinsérer dans la société kenyane à des postes plus avantageux (voir par exemple White 1990, Bujra 1977). En outre, les réalités contemporaines vécues de la vente de services sexuels témoignent également des processus de néolibéralization qui sont intériorisés par les femmes vendant des services sexuels et deviennent une caractéristique essentielle du travail du sexe commercial contemporain.

Keywords:

• moral economy
• sex work
• Kenya
• gender
• supernatural

Mots clés:

• économie morale
• travail du sex
• Kenya
• sexe
• surnaturel

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Statement of Ethics

The research was conducted with approval from University of Bristol. All interviewees have been anonymised and gave consent to be interviewed for the purposes of this research. The interviewer clearly communicated the scope and purpose of the research project to all interviewees. All interviewees gave consent to be interviewed for the purposes of this research. All interviewees also consented to interviews being used for publication purposes.

Notes

1 Mganga (singular) and waganga (plural) in kiswahili means a diviner, a witchdoctor.

2 Jini (singular) and majini (plural) – kiswahili for a particular kind of spirit agent. Coastal peoples distinguish among different types of spirits living on the Coast (see Giles 1995; Ciekawy 2016), and these spirits have the potential to assist human beings in orchestration of processes and events that both heal or harm the human beings to whom magic is directed.

3 Lesos are the most prominent article of clothing for women along the Swahili coast of East Africa. The leso is a rectangle of cotton cloth, printed in bold designs and bright colours, usually with a message along the bottom.

4 Speaking English to me, a foreigner, Winnie (as Maria Karen does later in the text) uses ‘ghost’ as translation for jini – spirit (see footnote 2).

5 Consider the price as told by Winnie: the mganga asks for two goats (a middle-class family would purchase one goat to eat at the major celebrations), one or three chickens (less luxurious meat than goat, but a rare meal for many who are struggling), some lesos (poorer women would buy a pair of lesos once a year) and special spice. While this might be an affordable purchase for someone well-off, for the vast majority of Kenyans this list represents a very expensive set of goods.

6 Mzungu – kiswahili for a white Western person.

7 Some women reported changing their religious affiliations several times in their lives, either because of their long-term partners, or because they are looking for community that accepts them. For instance, Faith, 41 years old, told me that she was Muslim when she lived with her ‘Arab boyfriend’, then converted to Catholicism when she found a long-term Italian client who was staying on the coast for months at the time, and was currently attending both an Anglican church (because her family is Anglican) and a particular Catholic church in town (because ‘they say prostitution is ok’). While no religious denomination endorses sex work, women in this line of work had many different explanations that allowed them to reconcile their work with their spiritual lives. Phelister, a sex worker activist, for instance said, ‘The Bible says that anything that makes me happy, makes the Lord happy’.

8 Officers of the municipality enforcing local bylaws.

9 2000 Kenyan shillings was approximately 15GBP during the time of field research.

10 Hapana – no in kiswahili.