An NGO has revealed that a significant number of married women have been joining the world’s oldest profession and engaging in sex work. Many of these women have been trekking to Kadoma, where they enjoy brisk business from artisanal miners.
These startling revelations came out at a round table meeting organised by Pan African Positive Women’s Coalition Zimbabwe (PAPWC ZIM) over the weekend in Bulawayo.
Elizabeth Mpofu, 40, a sex worker, blamed the influx of married women on lazy men who are failing to provide for their families. Said Mpofu,
“I think this is caused by lazy men who don’t want to work for their families.
“At the end of the day, these unsuspecting men are infected with sexually transmitted diseases like HIV.”
Mpofu also said that ladies in the oldest profession faced challenges from artisanal miners who sometimes refuse to pay for services rendered or refuse to use protection.
“All these challenges leave sex workers vulnerable to gender-based violence (GBV) and at high risk of STI/HIV infections. We want to thank the sister clinic at Kadoma Hospital established by the Centre for sexual health and HIV AIDS research (CeSHHAR),” she said.
“They take advantage of their husbands’ shifts to sneak out. We have a huge number of married women in sex work now. Our target group is sex workers, and I noticed the need to engage this group in 2011 at Victoria Falls and Hwange truck stops.”
Madondo went on to say that many ladies of the night face abuse from their clients.
“Young girls from 15 years to 31 came forward with testimonies on various issues that pushed them into sex work. Most of them, including pregnant ones, would be abused by truck drivers.
“We have testimonies of sex workers being forced to be intimate or breastfeed animals like tortoise and dogs.
“Should they be engaged for sex, we encourage them to demand safe sex and payment for service. Now they have created a group to check on each other for safety.”
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| Alarm Bells Ring As Married Women Flood Into World’s Oldest Profession! |
Catherine Madondo, the director of the NGO Voice of the Voiceless, also spoke of an increase in married women engaging in sex work. She revealed that most of these women sneak away when their husbands are not around.
“They take advantage of their husbands’ shifts to sneak out. We have a huge number of married women in sex work now. Our target group is sex workers, and I noticed the need to engage this group in 2011 at Victoria Falls and Hwange truck stops.”
Madondo went on to say that many ladies of the night face abuse from their clients.
“Young girls from 15 years to 31 came forward with testimonies on various issues that pushed them into sex work. Most of them, including pregnant ones, would be abused by truck drivers.
“We have testimonies of sex workers being forced to be intimate or breastfeed animals like tortoise and dogs.
“Should they be engaged for sex, we encourage them to demand safe sex and payment for service. Now they have created a group to check on each other for safety.”
