A socioeconomic, clinical and serological study in an African City of prostitutes and women still married to their first husband

• Published in: Social science & medicine (1982) 1994-08, Vol.39 (3), p.323-333
• Main Authors: Duncan, M.E., Tibaux, G., Pelzer, A., Mehari, L., Peutherer, J., Young, H., Jamil, Y., Darougar, S., Piot, P., Roggen, E.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Addis Ababa; Adolescent; Adult; Africa; Africa prostitution monandrous (married) women sexually transmitted disease cervical cancer; Age Factors; Analysis. Health state; Biological and medical sciences; cervical cancer; Comparison; Epidemiology; Ethiopia - epidemiology; Female; First time; General aspects; Humans; Income; Male; Marriage; Married women; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; monandrous (married) women; Multivariate Analysis; Parity; Pelvic Inflammatory Disease - epidemiology; Pelvic Inflammatory Disease - ethnology; Pelvic Inflammatory Disease - etiology; Prevalence; Prostitutes; Prostitution; Public health. Hygiene; Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine; Risk Factors; Seroepidemiologic Studies; Sex Work; Sexual Behavior; sexually transmitted disease; Sexually transmitted diseases; Sexually Transmitted Diseases - epidemiology; Sexually Transmitted Diseases - ethnology; Sexually Transmitted Diseases - transmission; Social Class; Social research; STD; Time Factors; Tropical medicine; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms - epidemiology; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms - ethnology; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms - etiology; Women
• ISSN: 0277-9536; 1873-5347
• DOI: 10.1016/0277-9536(94)90128-7

The aim of this paper was to compare women involved in prostitution with a group of women still married to their first husband and reporting having had only one sexual partner, in order to ascertain what factors if any contributed to women going into prostitution or staying still married to their first husband, their only sexual partner, and thereafter to compare clinical and serological aspects of the gynaecological conditions of the women in these two groups. The role of prostitutes in transmission of sexually transmitted diseases (STD) is widely recognised. Socioeconomic factors determining whether a woman will drift into prostitution or have a stable first marriage are largely unknown as are prevalence rates of STD, pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) and cervical cancer in these women. A socioeconomic, clinical and serologic study is reported for 2111 Ethiopian women attending teaching hospitals and maternal and child health clinics in Addis Ababa, analysing basic demographic data of three groups of women: (i) 278 engaged in prostitution, (ii) 730 still married to their one and only sexual partner, and (iii) 1103 single, widowed, divorced or married to their second or subsequent partner. Thereafter groups (i) and (ii) were compared and cotrasted with regard to further socioeconomic, clinical and serological associations. The most significant socioeconomic associations for women in prostitution were low income (95% had