1 / 2018-05-03 16:43:23

LIFE STYLES, INTIMACIES, SEXUALITIES OF FEMALE MIGRANT BEER PROMOTORS QUESTIONNING “MODERNITY” EMBODIEMENTS AND HIV VULNERABILITIES IN LAO PDR

Female migrant beer promotor, Intimacies, sexualities

Laos has a rapid process of rural-urban migration which is driven by fast socio-economic change in rural and urban Lao societies. Numerous women of rural areas move to cities to look for a better life. What are the inner experiences of those women migrants? How migration experiences shape their intimacies, sexualities and new form of conjugality.

This paper aims to examine these questions by exploring the case of young migrant women who came from villages to study in Vientiane city and work in beer shops, restaurants and entertainment venues. We conducted 30 repeated face-to-face, semi structured interviews with young girls aged 18-25 years and document their life-event histories, experiences of urban life as well as issues related to reproductive and sexual health.

The paper retraces this experience by paying a particular attention to the specific conditions of data production across social and cultural boundaries and at the encounters between development and scientific research domains. It analyses women narratives and their embodiments of “modernity”: Far from the social control of their communities and families and getting paid job these women gain more freedom and enjoy financial and sexual autonomy. “Modern life” also confront them to various new social forms of vulnerabilities.

In a context of limited access to sexual health services these women’s stories raise issues for public health and provide insights for program implementation.