While intimate partner violence (IPV) is a pervasive problem in all spheres of society, sex
workers encounter especially harrowing abuse by their boyfriends and husbands. Thus far,
their experiences have not been well understood. Grounded in intersectional feminist theory,
this qualitative study explored how sex workers construct their experiences of IPV. Four
semi-structured focus group discussions were conducted with South African female sex
workers. Based on the method of Foucauldian discourse analysis advanced by Willig (2008),
it was found that the groups broadly drew on two discourses of heterosexual intimate
relationships. Firstly, a patriarchal discourse pervaded descriptions of how their partners see
the women as possessions that should be silent, subordinate and faithful. Although some men
use sex workers as ‘money-making machines’, sex work is often in direct conflict with a
partner’s ‘ownership’, prompting jealousy, possessiveness and abuse. By positioning this as
abusive and irrational, the participants unanimously advocated for female agency and
empowerment. Secondly, the talk heavily utilised a discourse of transaction – where the male
financially provides for the woman in exchange for sex, reproduction and domestic duties.
Interestingly, participants constructed male abuse as a lack of financial support, or as an
inversion of ‘normal’ relationship economics, where the sex worker supports her partner. At
times, sex work was used to create a new discourse of female economic agency, as it enables
women to earn their own money. On the other hand, sex work still involves being paid (and,
sometimes abused) by male clients. This study deconstructs the discourses that are implicated
in sex workers’ experiences of IPV and the positions made available to them. It goes on to
suggest implications for our theoretical understandings of IPV, support strategies for sex
workers who experience IPV and ways to challenge and change unhelpful discourses that
feed abusive intimate relationships.