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Labouring Bodies, Silenced Voices: Pan-feminist Reflections on Sex Work, Survival, and Agency

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Abstract

Across Africa, the discourse surrounding sex work continues to occupy a contested and stigmatized space, shaped by colonial legacies, patriarchal moralities, and global capitalist inequalities. This article interrogates the intersections between labour, gender, and sexuality within African feminist thought, situating sex work as both a site of survival and political resistance. Through a Pan-African feminist lens, it explores how women, queer, and gender-diverse individuals navigate the moral economy of sex work amid structural violence, economic precarity, and social exclusion. Drawing on feminist scholarship, decolonial perspectives, and grassroots narratives, this analysis argues that the criminalization of sex work perpetuates systemic injustice by silencing the very voices it claims to protect. The article concludes by proposing a reimagined feminist framework that centers agency, bodily autonomy, and socio-economic justice as essential pillars of Africa’s liberation project.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Shimba She Rise and Empower Her Initiative, Kilifi (Malindi), Kenya

    Patience Mutunga

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  1. Patience Mutunga
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Correspondence to Patience Mutunga.

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Mutunga, P. Labouring Bodies, Silenced Voices: Pan-feminist Reflections on Sex Work, Survival, and Agency. Development (2025). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41301-025-00460-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/s41301-025-00460-8

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