I Am Also a Mother: Examining the Childcare Challenges of Sex Workers in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

A considerable number of studies have been conducted on sex work in Ethiopia though they have given little insight and understanding on the life of sex workers outside their work environment particularly their role as mothers. This research examines the childcare challenges of sex workers in the city of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. To achieve this, both the ecological model and the theory of gender and power were used to provide a deeper analysis of the childcare practice and its challenges. The main theme of this work is that sex workers with children truggle daily to deal with dual role of childcare and sex work despite several constraints put on them by difficult living and working condition, and fragmented social support system. It is evident from this study that sex workers who are mothers have specific childcare needs that must be considered by researchers, policy makers and service providers. I used qualitative pproach, in-depth interview, focus group discussion and information from key informants for this study. The findings show that for women, juggling childcare with sex work is very challenging because as breadwinners, they have to bring income through sex work and as mothers they are expected to maintain their household and give care to their children. Furthermore, these women have to deal with the stigma of their work on themselves and on their children as they combine socially acceptable role of motherhood and morally condemned role as a sex worker. Moreover, they have to struggle to minimize the negative effect of their work environment on the lives of their children.