Livelihoods as Relational Im/mobilities: Exploring the Everyday Practices of Young Female Sex Workers in Ethiopia

Abstract

Age is now considered alongside other differentiating categories for exploring mobility experiences, yet little work has emerged conceptualizing the im/mobilities of marginalized young people living in particularly difficult circumstances. This article, therefore, explores the relational im/mobilities of young female sex workers in Ethiopia aged between fourteen- and nineteen-years-old to understand how their livelihoods are shaped by the connections between their relations with others, im/mobilities, and survival in everyday life. The article draws on detailed narratives and participatory mobility mapping with sixty young sex workers in two locations in Ethiopia. Conceptually this article moves beyond sedentary and nomadic conceptions of mobility to what Jensen (2009) termed critical mobility thinking, where lives do not just happen in static enclaves or nomadic wanderings but are connected through multiple communities of interest and across time and space. Through these processes, everyday livelihoods are shaped and experienced. Further, drawing on Massey's (2005) relational geographical theory, where sociotemporal practices constitute places in a complex web of flows, the article reveals that young sex workers' critical im/mobilities are relational: Their livelihoods and identities are shaped within and between places based on their ability to move or not. The article reveals that these relational im/mobilities are important for securing work, protection, and accessing services, both within and between places and across a variety of sex work livelihoods. The article concludes by demonstrating that consideration of livelihoods as relational and mobile is central for the development of appropriate interventions.

当前在探讨能动性经验时, 年龄会与其他区别范畴一同进行考量, 但却鲜少研究对于处于特别艰辛环境中的边缘化年轻人的不/能动性进行概念化。于是乎, 本文探讨埃塞俄比亚中, 年龄介于十四至十九岁的年轻女性性工作者的相对不/能动性, 以理解她们的生计如何透过其与他人的关係、不/能动性和每日求生的连结所形塑。本文运用埃塞俄比亚两地中的六十位年轻性工作者的细緻叙事和参与式能动性製图。本文在概念上超越固着和游牧的能动性概念, 转向詹森 (2009) 所谓的批判能动性思考, 其中生命并非仅只是在静止的飞地或游牧的漫游中发生, 而是透过多重利益团体, 在不同的时空中进行连结。透过这些过程, 每日生活受到形塑并经验之。此外, 透过梅西 (2005) 的关係性地理理论, 其中社会时间实践在复杂的流动网中构成了地方, 本文揭露年轻性工作者的批判不/能动性是关係性的༚她们的生计和认同, 是在根据她们能否在地方之中与之间移动的能力形塑之。本文揭露这些关係性的不/能动性, 对于在地方之中与之间、以及在不同的性工作生计中确保工作、保护和获得服务而言是重要的。本文于结论中显示, 将生计考量作为关係性且流动的, 是发展适切介入方法的关键。

La edad es ahora tomada en cuenta junto con otras categorías diferenciadoras para explorar experiencias en movilidad, si bien poco ha sido el trabajo emergente para conceptualizar las in/movilidades de gente joven marginada que vive en circunstancias particularmente difíciles. Por eso, este artículo explora las in/movilidades relacionales de jóvenes trabajadoras sexuales en Etiopía, con edades entre catorce y diecinueve años, para entender cómo su sustento está configurado por las conexiones entre sus relaciones con otros, las in/movilidades y supervivencia en la vida cotidiana. El artículo se construye a partir de narrativas detalladas y mapeo participativo de movilidad con sesenta trabajadoras sexuales jóvenes en dos localidades de Etiopía. Desde el punto de vista conceptual, este artículo va más allá de las concepciones sedentarias y nómadas de la movilidad hacia lo que Jensen (2009) llamó pensamiento crítico de la movilidad, donde las vidas simplemente no ocurren en enclaves estáticos o vagabundeo nómada sino que se conectan a través de múltiples comunidades de interés y a través del tiempo y el espacio. A través de estos procesos es como se configura y experimenta la supervivencia cotidiana. Aún más, basándonos en la teoría geográfica relacional de Massey (2005), en la que las prácticas sociotemporales constituyen lugares en una compleja red de flujos, el artículo revela que las in/movilidades críticas de las trabajadoras sexuales jóvenes son relacionales: Su sustento e identidades están configuradas dentro de los lugares y a través de estos con base en su habilidad de moverse o no moverse. El artículo revela que estas in/movilidades relacionales son importantes para conseguir trabajo, protección y tener acceso a los servicios, tanto al interior de los lugares como entre unos y otros, y a través de una variedad de modos de subsistencia basados en trabajo sexual. El artículo concluye demostrando que la consideración de los modos de subsistencia como relacionales y móviles es central para el desarrollo de intervenciones apropiadas.

Key Words:

• Africa
• im/mobilities
• livelihoods
• sex work
• young people

关键词：:

• 非洲
• 不/能动性
• 生计
• 性工作
• 年轻人。

Palabras clave:

• África
• in/movilidades
• medios de subsistencia
• trabajo sexual
• gente joven

Acknowledgments

I would like to express sincere gratitude to the girls who told me their stories and thank referees whose comments helped to improve the final version.

Funding

I am grateful to the Nuffield Foundation for funding the research this article is based on, although any shortcomings therein are entirely my own.

Notes

1. This research focused on the poorest groups.

2. Red-light area girls work from small informal wooden rooms in poor communities. The rooms are usually owned by someone else who controls the girls' time in the room with clients.

3. It is acknowledged that sex work definitions are complex, particularly in poor communities, where sex might be exchanged for income or other needs at times of hardship. This article focuses on girls who exchange sex for cash with several (unknown) men as their main source of livelihood.

4. These are locally produced traditional drinks that are sold in small bars, often the size of one room.

5. A smaller number of red-light workers participated in the research due to constraints on their mobility.

6. All names used are pseudonyms.

7. The coffee board is a pseudonym for sex work to lure others to the city, unaware of the work they will do.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Lorraine van Blerk

LORRAINE VAN BLERK is a Professor in Human Geography in the School of Social Sciences Geography at the University of Dundee, Dundee DD1 4HN, UK. E-mail: [email protected]. Her research interests include the conditions and experiences of young people living in situations of poverty and marginalization in the Global South with a focus on space, time, and mobility.