NCJ Number
224349
Journal
Substance Use & Misuse Volume: 43 Issue: 8-9 Dated: 2008 Pages: 1170-1185
Date Published
2008
Length
16 pages
Annotation
This study, which was conducted in Kenya and Uganda in 2004 and 2005, examined the role of women in the retail and wholesale khat trade, a plant-based stimulant drug.
Abstract
In Kenya and Uganda, women khat consumers risk being labeled prostitutes and immoral; however, data from a survey of 300 consumers of khat in Uganda found that only 5 of 71 women reported that they were sex workers. Nevertheless, Ugandan men expressed their belief that the women who used khat were most likely prostitutes. This contrasts with the situation in Yemen and Ethiopia, where women are able to join men in chewing khat without fear of being labeled prostitutes. In Yemen and Ethiopia, female khat use is even imbued with religious and cultural significance for many women. Whereas Yemen and Ethiopia have a long history of khat consumption, in Kenya there is no long-standing tradition of khat use apart from two clans of the Meru people. Even among the Meru groups, the ritual and privileged use of khat by elders is apparently an exclusively male practice. The negative stereotypes of women who use khat may stem not only from the cultural histories of Kenya and Uganda but also from the fact the female sellers of khat tend to be divorcees or widows struggling to support themselves by selling khat. Being “independent” or “single” women places them beyond male control. The link between single women and commercial sex is a legacy of colonial policies of male labor migration, which resulted in family separation and men resorting to sex with single women. These study findings, however, suggest that working in the khat trade is more likely to keep women out of sex work by providing them the income they need to survive. Glossary and 31 references