Grant: Master's Award: Canada Graduate Scholarships

There is a substantial amount of research on female sex workers, particularly as they relate to the HIV/AIDS pandemic. However, female sex workers are much more than their highly stigmatised occupation; they are friends, aunties, grandmothers, wives, lovers and most importantly, they are mothers. The children of female sex workers are known to be a highly vulnerable population experiencing higher rates of sexual abuse, entry into sex work and school truancy. And yet, little is known about the health of this high-risk population. My research will explore child health through the lens of urban health and within the context of the largest informal urban settlement (slum) in sub-Saharan Africa: Kibera, in Nairobi, Kenya. In collaboration with researchers from the Universities of Nairobi (Kenya), Washington (USA) and Victoria (Canada) I will be working with data collected as part of "A Kenya Free of AIDS: Harnessing Interdisciplinary Science for HIV Prevention", a multi-year and multi-phase project. Using quantitative methods and in-depth analysis my objective is to identify the social factors affecting the health of female sex workers' children in informal urban environments. The purpose of my research is not prescriptive; rather it strives to inform government and non-government organizations when developing harm-reducing and family-based interventions. As a result, this research will help to improve healthy public policy in urban areas worldwide.