Women’s Erroneous Perception Of Prostitution

Women’s Erroneous Perception Of Prostitution

Few months ago, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Senator Bala Mohammed issued a two-day ultimatum to prostitutes in Abuja to vacate the city or be arrested with their patrons. Following the ultimatum, a first batch of over 120 prostitutes trooped to the FCT Secretariat to renounce the profession while other batches followed suit. They subsequently registered for the vocational training proposed by the minister. WOMANHOOD commended the courage of the minister as he attempted to tackle the menace of prostitution in the territory, urging him to ensure full rehabilitation of the repentant prostitutes to effectively deal with the issues that led them into the shameful profession in the first place.

However, there have since been reports in the national dailies that the prostitutes are back to the streets of Abuja. The FCT ministerial task force on the ban on street prostitution has been warring against the women of easy virtue who appear determined not to let go of their illicit trade. As part of its latest efforts, the task force recently arrested about 106 commercial sex workers at different spots within the city.

That age-long profession has posed a serious threat to the dignity and wellbeing of the womenfolk. It is a degrading and deadly pastime that women often see as a way out of desperate financial hardships. Some women just relocate from the villages to the cities to secure better lives for themselves, and without adequate education, they cannot be gainfully employed. So, they naturally go into prostitution. Such women are mostly the ones who rent and live in cheap hotels where men visit them to have sex and pay for their services.

Many students of institutions of higher learning also engage in it to finance their education. Other students who are not contented with the finances and other provisions that their parents give them engage in prostitution to live beyond their means. The desire to live big on campus, riding posh cars, living in tastefully furnished rented apartments rather than hostels, owning fat bank accounts and wearing designer dresses complemented by designer shoes and bags has pushed many girls into selling their bodies for monetary gains.

Some other girls engage in prostitution after graduating from higher institutions and failing to secure gainful employments. Having roamed the streets for jobs without success and having no capital to start any viable business, they give in to men’s sexual advances in exchange for money to keep body and soul together. Some simply parade themselves on the streets every night for men to pick up, while others frequent night clubs where the men take them home for sex in exchange for money. Some girls in the latter group retain their customers from then on while still visiting the clubs to add to their list of patrons.

Another group of prostitutes are the ones referred to as corporate prostitutes who work in corporate organisations that send them to lure wealthy individuals to open fat accounts with them. Such organisations include banks, insurance companies and other financial institutions. The girls are normally employed after graduation but huge financial targets are set for them to meet yearly in order to retain their jobs. Some of the girls immediately get down to work by seducing the wealthy men with their indecent tight-fitting trousers and mini skirt suits which constitute their dress code. But for the relatively decent ones, when their deadlines are approaching and their targets are not met, they become desperate and yield to the sexual advances of the rich men so as not to lose their jobs.

Prostitution, therefore, for many women, represents a means of survival which they must employ to stay on top of difficult financial situations. Just because they are women, they believe they could simply use what they have to get what they want or need. And they see it as the only way to stay alive in difficult financial circumstances. But do women really have to prostitute to make ends meet? What if they were men and didn’t have what they are trading to the wealthy men, wouldn’t they survive? I believe that women can do without prostitution. It is a matter of the mind. When a woman believes that there is no other way for her to survive than to sell her body for money, then prostitution becomes her only means of survival. But when she believes that there has got to be some other way, then she will be able to think clearly and figure out that other way. And believe me, there is always some other way for those who choose to find it.

The starting point is to say no to prostitution. Then, a way out will emerge. The way out, however, is not immediately juicy and I think this is the reason many women prefer prostitution which can fetch them big money instantly. The option to prostitution is getting engaged in some form of legal and decent activity that fetches money no matter how small. It could be sale of pure water and soft drinks which can be cooled with ice-blocks if there is no refrigerator, sale of GSM recharge cards, making and selling snacks like chin-chin, bonze, puff-puff, etc., and local drinks like Sorrel (zobo) and kunu which are highly nutritious and loved by many people. Some women or girls can approach wealthy homes for household jobs including being their house helps, doing their laundries on designated days, cleaning of the house and compound, being their cooks, etc. Many women are good at hair plaiting, and this skill is often learnt from secondary school hostels where girls plait their hairs for one another. So, unemployed women who possess that skill can earn some income through hair plaiting right in front of their homes without having to rent any shop.

Many graduate ladies may find most of these jobs not befitting but there is dignity in labour. Besides, graduate ladies who read Catering and Hotel Management, Food Nutrition or Home Economics without gaining employment could approach wealthy homes and offer their services as cooks. Same goes for those who did not read those courses but know how to cook good meals. Well-to-do families can employ them as their cooks. Many of such families are looking for people who would do one or two things for them and get paid in return. Such services include being lesson teachers to their kids after school hours and weekends. Those who cannot secure teaching jobs in schools because they are not professional teachers can offer lessons to students and pupils from rich families and teach specific subjects like English language and Mathematics which often give those students headache. And it’s easy to identify rich or comfortable homes that would require and can afford the services of house helps, cooks or teachers. You can tell by the outward appearance of the buildings and number/quality of vehicles in the compounds or in front of certain houses.

The NTA Newsline recently featured an unemployed lady in Abuja who began to ride Keke NAPEP (commercial tricycle) for her livelihood. When she was interviewed on why she chose to do that job which is an exclusive preserve of men, she said she would rather do that than steal or sell her body for money. Now, that is a lady who has dignity. Some other ladies in Port Harcourt were reported to be into commercial taxi driving. And they are happy with what they are doing which earns them a living. Though these jobs may be odd for ladies, and they may not be befitting or lucrative enough for graduates, they are much better, more dignifying and safer than prostitution. And they can be just temporary measures to sustain them before they get their dream jobs. Also, as they do these temporary jobs, they can save up enough money to start a befitting business.

A family friend told me about something that happened in her office recently. She works in a government parastatal in Abuja and she said there was this lady who has a diploma certificate but couldn’t get a job in time. Apparently she could not further her education for lack of funds, and she needed a job to sustain her after finishing her diploma course. When she saw that her efforts to secure a job yielded no positive result,she went to my family friend’s office to ask for permission to be bringing some snacks and zobo drink (sorrel) to the office premises to sell to the staff on daily basis. Her request was granted and she was allowed to occupy a space in the premises to sell her drinks and snacks.

After some time, she became acquainted with the workers in that office and one day, she asked one of them to please help her make photocopies of her credentials in the office, apparently to enable her continue her search for a job even while selling in that office. She wanted to distribute them to some offices just in case something positive came up. Then, as she followed that person to the office and the staff began making the photocopies, their boss in the office walked past and saw them. He asked what they were doing by the photocopier and when he was told, he was surprised to hear that the zobo girl had a diploma. The boss was further impressed that a girl with a diploma certificate could bring herself to that level of selling snacks and zobo to survive rather than do what most girls in her shoes do… date old men or sell their bodies for money.He collected copies of her credentials and said that there was no vacancy in the office at that moment, but promised to employ her as soon as there was room for her. He made good his promise as my friend said the lady is presently working in her office.

You would be surprised at the kind of response you would get from people when they see that a graduate or educated lady is doing a job that is far below her status. People tend to respect such ladies considering the fact that everyone knows about the option of prostitution. They see a lady who is doing a job that does not befit her graduate or educational status as very decent and hardworking and that is perfect for a woman’s image. And you cannot tell what opportunity may come your way in the course of doing those jobs. Some privileged people who come across such decent ladies are often moved to help them somehow.

One thing about unemployment which many people fail to realise is that it is an opportunity to realise one’s potential. There may be some natural talents or gifts that one possesses without knowing it until one is faced with difficulties in life. As the saying goes, necessity is the mother of invention. There comes a time when someone facing serious hardship should look inwards to see if there is something he or she is good at doing which can fetch him/her some income. You may not know it, but everyone has one or two things they are naturally good at, which if developed, can sustain them. In other words, there is something great in everyone that needs to be discovered to achieve success or greatness in life. We don’t all have to be engaged in white collar jobs. Some people can make it even better in life doing their own businesses than they would as salary earners. So, the unemployment situation in the country is just an opportunity for people to discover themselves and enter into their destinies.

Aside from the shame involved in prostitution, the profession carries the risks of infections like HIV/AIDS, other Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs) and premature death. The premature death risk could arise from the infections frequently contracted by prostitutes. Besides, those who engage in prostitution are often used for money rituals these days by the same wealthy men that patronise them. Many of those men did money rituals to get their wealth and they use human blood to renew such rituals from time to time. So, the call girls are always handy whenever they are required to do human sacrifice. Only recently, the FCT ministerial task force on the ban on street prostitution saved an alleged prostitute, Aisha Isah from a suspected ritualist who tried to murder her with a knife. The suspected ritualist, who identified himself as Biodun was caught in the process of butchering the girl, who was weeping uncontrollably somewhere at Garki II district of the capital city. By the time the girl was rescued, blood was said to be flowing from underneath her skirt, and she had some deep incisions from the knife all over her body.

Unemployed women must, therefore, uphold the dignity of labour and of the womenfolk by shunning prostitution and rather engaging in meaningful activities as means of livelihood. They should identify the natural talents that they are endowed with and put them into use. With prayers and patience, they can attain their goals in life without breaking the law, debasing womanhood and endangering their lives by engaging in prostitution.

By Nike Oluwole.

(First published on December 2, 2010)