Ill-health, poor diet and loss of food security in Kiribati

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Ill-health, Poor Diet and Loss of Food Security in Kiribati
 

– Reported, April 11, 2012

 

Fishing and the maritime industry are central to everyday life and both the formal and informal economies of the Republic of Kiribati. In consideration of Kiribati’s vulnerability to HIV, seafarers are always,understandably, a central concern. The issue of i-kiribati women who board foreign fishing vessels for sex work is a matter that also regularly appears in documents and papers considering HIV prevention strategies for Kiribati. Although there has, to date, been no diagnoses of HIV from among this group, the position of such women as potential vectors of transmission of the virus into the general population of Kiribati tends to be given more prominence than their own specific vulnerabilities. sex workers have long been blamed for HIV among seafarers in the pacific. in 1998, one pacific aids alert article stated, without evidence, that: “there appears to be widespread HIV infection among the seafaring community throughout the pacific and this is usually from young women working as casual sex workers”

In a recent survey of youth aged from 15 to 24 years in Betio, tarawa, 27% reported having participated in sex involving the exchange of cash or goods in the past year . Procuring sex and managing a brothel are illegal activities in Kiribati, but there is no specific law against sex work. some local women are known to travel out to the foreign vessels to drink and have sex with crew members in exchange for money, fish and luxury items. the term ‘ainen matawa’ has been coined locally as a label for the women who board foreign fishing vessels and engage in sex for money and goods with foreign seafarers.

In 2003 the number of women involved on south tarawa was estimated to be between 30 and 50 , and is currently estimated at around 80.Population growth has been extremely
rapid in Kiritimati island and numbers of ainen matawa are currently estimated to be about 50.HIV was first diagnosed in kiribati in 1991. To december 2009, 52 cases of HIV had been reported in Kiribati, including 23 aids-related deaths. Thirty-three of the diagnosed HiV cases were male and nineteen were female and many of the early HiV infections
in Kiribati occurred among seafarers and their wives.
Internationally, seafarers are considered to be an atrisk group for HIV due to their mobility and to long periods of separation from home and family which has been associated with the buying of sex . Where condoms are not used during paid sex, sex work has also been associated with elevated HIV transmission risk as sex work often involves multiple concurrent sexual partners. surveys of i-Kiribati seafarers in 2005.

The final interviewees were all female, and all lived in south tarawa. those who were currently boarding boats were single, or separated from husbands, and nearly all lived apart from family.The youngest was 16 and the oldest was 28. the participants informed us that the women who board fishing boats are generally aged between 18 and 25. However, some girls as young as 14 have been known to board. twenty-five interviews were completed, although twenty-six were undertaken. One feminine young man who was known to spend time on board foreign vessels had his interview discontinued as he stated during interview that he did not have sex with the seafarers. Most interviews were recorded by audio-tape. Some were hand-written due to the participant’s reluctance to be audio-taped. All completed interviews were with young women.

Women who are identified as ainen matawa suffer from marginalisation and discrimination.Participants typically said that the abandonment and rejection by family and former friends did not bother them. However, the participants also noted that the term ‘ainen matawa’ was not one they particularly liked to hear as it is usually ‘said in a bad way’ and
used in a derogatory manner. furthermore, numerous participants spoke of how people look down on ainen matawa, and described young women known to board the boats to sell sex as putting on a brave face and ‘laughing loud’ in order to preserve some pride and to ‘cover the hurt’ felt at being spurned and denigrated. many of the participants’ own efforts at bravado were belied in their comments about the hidden pain and shame experienced by others.

Ainen matawa are at risk from non-consensual sex, especially gang-rape and other violence. According to participants’ descriptions of their daily lives, drinking alcohol is a dominant feature in the life of ainen matawa and in their relationships with sexual partners. most participants described boarding a foreign vessel for the first time after drinking and socialising with a crew member in a Betio bar or club. many interviewees also alluded to the fact that becoming heavily intoxicated at onshore bars and nightclubs renders women vulnerable to sexual abuse and gang-rape by locals, and also to poor decisions about which boats are safe to board.

Condom use considerations for ainen matawa and their partners will be akin to those for other wives and girlfriends of seafarers, including local seafarers. according to the ainen matawas’ descriptions of their relationships, despite being predicated on the exchange of sex and goods, these relationships can be characterised as serial monogamy. this has
ramifications for their condom use behaviours within those relationships. while a few of the peer educators professed to use condoms consistently unless very drunk, most participants said that consistent condom use occurs for the first week or two of the relationship only and then it ceases. those women explained that condom used stopped because both partners ‘trusted’ one another. once the relationship has become cemented in this way, condoms appear to be used predominantly for contraceptive purposes. participants also said that the young seafarers often want to father babies with them and that a number of i-kiribati women now have babies to korean seafarers who send
financial support.

The sexual relationships and commerce between ainen matawa and their foreign seafarer clients differ from those that usually typify sex work in some important ways; for example, the women are generally not paid for each sexual encounter; even if short lived, the relationships are exclusive rather than concurrent; and the relationships are frequently characterised by bonds of emotional intimacy and trust. despite these qualities of intimacy, trust and temporary exclusivity, with respect to HIV and other stis these relationships may simply generate greater vulnerabilities and risks compared to regular i-kiribati wives and girlfriends of seafarers. this is primarily because ainen matawa tend to have multiple sequential seafarer partners. Furthermore, their very identity as ainen matawa renders them vulnerable to rape and sexual abuse from certain other seafarers, and from local men, including the police. in addition, experiences of marginalisation and fear of discrimination and stigmatisation often deter ainen matawa from using HiV and sti testing and treatment services.

Credits: Karen McMillan and Heather Worth

More Information at: http://www.pacifichealthvoices.org/files/Risky%20business%20Kiribati.pdf

 

 

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