Exploring Risky Sexual Behaviors of Mobile Workers: The Case of the Maritime Work Force

This study explores the risky sexual behaviours and relationships of seafarers in the context of commercial sex relationships with sex workers in ports.  This study is designed to shed light on why seafarers engage in these risky activities while away from home working on board ships.  The study was conceived in the context of the increased vulnerability of seafarers to STIs including HIV. 

The study draws upon data collected from a qualitative study conducted in the city of Santos, Brazil.  This location was chosen, as it is the largest port in Latin America and has a popular red light district to seafarers.  In-depth interviews were conducted with sixty seafarers and non-seafarers.  Ethnographic observations were carried out in the red light district and other places frequented by the seafarers such as the port, the seamen’s mission and parts of the city.

Five key findings were found in the study.  1. The port red light district is an integral social space within the work organization of seafarers addressing some of their socio-sexual needs.  This makes the port and the nightclubs an extension of their social lives on board.  2. The risky sexual behaviours of seafarers can be linked to some aspects of their profession, thus providing an insight into inherent determinants.  3.  Seafarers and sex workers develop different typologies of relationships that approximate hetero-normative forms yet devoid of normal features thus characterising these engagements as complex, complicated and risky.  4.  These relationships do not conform to the common power and gender dynamics in the context of sex work adding to the uniqueness of the relationships. 5.  Seafarers have unique ways of negotiating safety and navigating risk that are reflective of different determinants inherent in their subculture.  The study contributes to the understanding of risk through the perspective of a unique population group.