WHY FEMALE SEX WORKERS ARE STIGMATISED
Stigma is defined as a mark of disgrace associated with a particular circumstances, quality, or person. Stigma affects the interactions sex workers have with the people who have a profound impact on the overall wellbeing for example landlords, doctors, nurses, family and friends. Most people do not have a clear understanding of how stigma affects directly and indirectly and how it shapes those sex workers.
Generally stigma is however linked to how people who hold the most power influence and treat those who hold less power. According to Goffman a sociologist defines it as a “deeply discrediting” attribute that reduces an individual “from a whole and unusual person to a tainted, discounted one”. Stigma usually arises in the sense that people tend to blame and judge sex workers as people who are socially and culturally immoral.
The reasons why female sex workers are easily stigmatised because they are discriminated and blamed for increasing the infections transmitted especially HIV and AIDS. Being a disgrace to a tradition or religion. Another reason could be how these female workers and their clients break the laws of the country. However according to Goode he points out another factor that contributes to the and he postulates that the stigmatisation is a feature of a patriarchal culture that prevails in some societies where women are tend to be judged and expected to live up to “high expectations” in terms of their dressing and how they interact with men. In many societies women who dress in tight clothing such as miniskirts,shorts,who drink and smoke are deemed to be called “whores”, “sluts” and “loose”.
Looking on the other side of the coin men are free to engage with different kind of women because of the male sex discourse in patriarchal society. In this this discourse men are the subjects and women are the objects.