caa a22 4500 606231919 CHVBK 20210128101223.0 cr unu---uuuuu 210128e20150501xx s 000 0 eng 10.1007/s10508-014-0404-1 doi (NATIONALLICENCE)springer-10.1007/s10508-014-0404-1 "Whatever I Have, I Have Made by Coming into this Profession”: The Intersection of Resources, Agency, and Achievements in Pathways to Sex Work in Kolkata, India [Elektronische Daten] [Dallas Swendeman, Anne Fehrenbacher, Samira Ali, Sheba George, Deborah Mindry, Mallory Collins, Toorjo Ghose, Bharati Dey] This article investigated the complex interplay of choice, socioeconomic structural factors, and empowerment influencing engagement in sex work. The analysis was focused on pathways into and reasons for staying in sex work from in-depth qualitative interviews with participants (n=37) recruited from the Durbar community-led structural intervention in Kolkata, India. Kabeer's theory of empowerment focused on resources, agency, and achievements was utilized to interpret the results. Results identified that contexts of disempowerment constraining resources and agency set the stage for initiating sex work, typically due to familial poverty, loss of a father or husband as a breadwinner, and lack of economic opportunities for women in India. Labor force participation in informal sectors was common, specifically in domestic, construction, and manufacturing work, but was typically insufficient to provide for families and also often contingent on sexual favors. The availability of an urban market for sex work served as a catalyst or resource, in conjunction with Durbar's programmatic resources, for women to find and exercise agency and achieve financial and personal autonomy not possible in other work or as dependents on male partners. Resources lost in becoming a sex worker due to stigma, discrimination, and rejection by family and communities were compensated for by achievements in gaining financial and social resources, personal autonomy and independence, and the ability to support children and extended family. Durbar's programs and activities (e.g., savings and lending cooperative, community mobilization, advocacy) function as empowering resources that are tightly linked to sex workers' agency, achievements, and sex work pathways. Springer Science+Business Media New York, 2014 Sex work nationallicence Trafficking nationallicence Empowerment nationallicence Structural interventions nationallicence Women nationallicence India nationallicence Swendeman Dallas Center for HIV Identification, Prevention & Treatment Services (CHIPTS), Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, David Geffen School of Medicine at University of California, Los Angeles, 10920 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 350, 90024, Los Angeles, CA, USA aut Fehrenbacher Anne Department of Community Health Sciences, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, Los Angeles, CA, USA aut Ali Samira School of Social Work, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA aut George Sheba Charles Drew University of Medicine and Science, and Department of Community Health Sciences, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, Los Angeles, CA, USA aut Mindry Deborah Center for Culture and Health, Semel Institute for Neuroscience & Human Behavior, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA aut Collins Mallory Department of Community Health Sciences, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, Los Angeles, CA, USA aut Ghose Toorjo School of Social Work, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA aut Dey Bharati Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee, Kolkata, West Bengal, India aut Archives of Sexual Behavior Springer US; http://www.springer-ny.com 44/4(2015-05-01), 1011-1023 0004-0002 44:4<1011 2015 44 10508 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-014-0404-1 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI BK010053 XK010053 XK010000 Metadata rights reserved Springer special CC-BY-NC licence nationallicence 1 research-article jats NATIONALLICENCE NATIONALLICENCE NL-springer NATIONALLICENCE 856 40 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-014-0404-1 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Swendeman Dallas Center for HIV Identification, Prevention & Treatment Services (CHIPTS), Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, David Geffen School of Medicine at University of California, Los Angeles, 10920 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 350, 90024, Los Angeles, CA, USA aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Fehrenbacher Anne Department of Community Health Sciences, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, Los Angeles, CA, USA aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Ali Samira School of Social Work, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- George Sheba Charles Drew University of Medicine and Science, and Department of Community Health Sciences, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, Los Angeles, CA, USA aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Mindry Deborah Center for Culture and Health, Semel Institute for Neuroscience & Human Behavior, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Collins Mallory Department of Community Health Sciences, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, Los Angeles, CA, USA aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Ghose Toorjo School of Social Work, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Dey Bharati Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee, Kolkata, West Bengal, India aut NATIONALLICENCE 773 0- Archives of Sexual Behavior Springer US; http://www.springer-ny.com 44/4(2015-05-01), 1011-1023 0004-0002 44:4<1011 2015 44 10508