By Paul Andrew Bourne, B.Sc. (Hons); Dip. Edu.
One of the many social taboos in Jamaica is male sexuality by way of same sex. This situation has oftentimes resulted in the fear of peoples to venture into this experience in order to unearth particular social truths. Although this study had a small sample size and was unable to gather its data by the use of probability sampling technique that is made for external generalability. Nevertheless, this survey was able to use convenience sampling to open the truths on a phenomenon that is as genuine as the rising of the sun. Gayle (2002) findings on child labour revealed that fifty (50) of the estimated three-hundred and fifty (350) male prostitutes in the Kingston Metropolitan Area were under the age of fifteen years. The irony from the populace was its outrage on the revelation of Gayle’s (2002) study. Gayle who is an anthropologist in the department of Sociology at the Mona Campus of the University of the West Indies opened an invaluable insight into the reality of sex workers in Jamaica and moreso offered knowledge into the characteristics of male prostitution. This study concurs with Gayle (2002) as the average age of this cohort of sex workers (or male sex workers) was 20 years with a minimum age of 16 years. Furthermore, approximately 57 percent (n=12) of the sampled population (n=21) were less than 21 years. The mode age of the respondents was 18 years, with 38.1 percent of the respondents indicated that they had been in the profession for 2 years and approximately 56 percent with over two (2) years work-experience in this trade. In response to when did they begin the profession, approximately 43 percent of the respondents reported before eighteen (18) years of age.
A study carried out by Pruitt and Lafont (1995) provided a detailed analysis of a particular characteristic of male prostitution. They found that female tourists would "rent-a-dread" for personal sexual gratifications while on vacation in Jamaica, which was a similar practice in Barbados. The latter differed from the former in that the former was mainly unemployed of a particular educational type. This research, which is ten (10) years after that of Pruitt and Lafont’s findings, discovered that nothing has fundamentally changed within the characteristics of the male prostitution profession in Jamaica. Approximately 72 percent of the respondents indicated that they were in the trade for financial reasons with 19 percent suggested for pleasure. Based on the findings of this study, none of the respondents was having their sexual experiences with female tourists; however 33 percent were having sex with male tourists. These findings concur with those of Pruitt and Lafont.
Another area of this survey showed that 38 percent of the respondents were living with friend, of which 85.7 percent had secondary and lower education. Generally, 71 percent of the respondents reported that they had stopped attending formal schooling at age 17 years and-or below with 66.7 percent indicated that they do not reside with parent(s). This survey found that 76.2 percent of the respondents lived with their mothers, in comparison to having lived with both parents (4.8 percent).
One researcher, Watson (2003), found that rural/urban migration was a fundamental component in the sex profession. The findings of this research contradicts that of the Watson (2003) as 85.7 percent of the sampled population (n=21) were born in Kingston Metropolitan with 81.0 percent of them who still reside within the same topology.
Of the total sampled number of respondents (n=21), 33.3 percent of them left the formal school system before grade 11 in comparison to 52.4 percent who left before grade 12. With such a large percent of the sample with a particular educational position, the issue of exploitation is a natural phenomenon. Dunn (2001) forwarded a position that indicated the high likelihood of a child who lacks family and social support who is between the ages of 6 and 17 to be exploited by adult homosexual males. This survey concurs with Dunn (2001) as 76.2 percent of the sampled respondents (n=21) reported that their sexual experiences were with older males, and of the same sample 19.0 percent indicated this social experience was with young males. The researcher is forwarding a position based on the socio-demographic characteristics of the sampled respondents, that male prostitution in Kingston Metropolitan is predominantly a financial matter for male recipients who are of a lower level of education. This is supported by firstly, a 100 percent of the male prostitution reported that they have been having repeated clients and that their meeting places are parties (71.4 percent) and beaches (47.6 percent) and secondly, 66.7 percent mentioned that the interest in their profession is for the financial gains. Thirdly, 33.3 percent of the respondents reported that their worst experience was not being paid for the sexual exercise. This explains why 61.9 percent of them suggested that they were depressed and felt down. Finally, the average weekly income from male prostitution for the recipients was nine thousand, seven hundred, fourteen dollars and twenty-eight cents ($9,714.28) for the average workweek of five days (or 5) constituting of an average of 5 hour- day. The average payment for each sexual activity was one thousand, eight hundred and fifty dollars ($1,850) with approximately 50 percent (or n=10) of the respondents who received the average costing.
This research having concurred with literature that stated "while money is usually the driving force, some young men, particularly in cultures where sex between men is strongly abhorred, sell sex because that is the only way they can find male partners, or because they do not acknowledge to themselves their attraction to other men." In addition, the younger the male sex worker is, the less he is able to protect himself from HIV infection because of his inability to negotiate condom use. Despite the findings of literature on the issue of abuse, this research revealed that rate of sexually abuse from client was 23.8 percent (n =3) (of which 9.5 percent of those situations were carried out by the clients). On the contrary, a predominance of the respondents indicated that their best experience in doing the job was for its "good sex/pleasure" which concurs with the literature that oftentimes these young men have a particular social bias, and their mode of exposing this is through the selling of sex to a certain gender. From the findings that spoke to first sexual initiation, 19 percent of them were raped by a male family member, 7.1 percent with the neighbour, 14.3 percent with their teachers and 28.6 percent with other individuals from which the researcher may infer was the basis upon which the respondents were introduced to early exploitation but not from the male clients.
Although the literature has unambiguously forwarded a perspective that physical abuse is because of the socio-demography background of the respondents with a minimal number of them abused by clients, the researcher is postulating a position the clienteles are now be psychological disadvantage through financial inadequacies (as 66.7 percent of the respondents reported that they have no other source of income). This explain why a preponderance of the respondents reported that they use of condom with their clients (i.e. 90.5 percent) with 4.8 percent of them suggested that they did so sometimes and 85.7 percent indicated that they do so whenever they had sexual intercourse. Furthermore, 100 percent of the sampled respondents suggested that their behaviour has been modified ever since their awareness of HIV from the Non-profit Organization (NGO) that foster the HIV awareness among that group of professionals. The irony of this discourse is despite the efforts of the NGO and their perspective of the knowledge of HIV, only 28.6 percent of them suggested that they are not taking any sexual risk with their lives (that is sex without the use of a condom).
A simple minority of the respondents used other drugs, marijuana, cocaine, heroin, ecstasy or secondary substances, which is opposes the findings of Dunn (2001). However, a large majority of the respondents used cigarettes (78.4 percent) and alcohol (minimum 50 percent). Knowing that significant number of the respondents were adolescents, Hyatt (2001) perspective can be hereby see. The example is the adolescents/youth working in the nights and consuming large quantities of alcohol with proper parental supervision given that in excess of 70 percent of them who were residing with friends and not parent(s).
The findings of this research has concurred with Gayle (2002) that early sexual experience of adolescents is a reality and as such by not providing the approach mechanisms that will foster such peoples to protect themselves from HIV/AIDS, we are inadvertently exposing those young people to grate evil. The social reality is a high poverty among particular groups of people within our society who are of a certain type of educational background opens them to the sex industry. It is from this knowledge that older men continue to lure young innercity males into male prostitution. This explains the preponderance of the high consumption of alcohol by male prostitutions, and this concurs with Gayle (2002).
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