A SEX-worker in Mazabuka district in Southern Province is worried about two things.
Her first worry is that there is a high number of young girls joining the sex work business. #Kalemba finds sense in this concern.
Her second worry borders on the economic concept of demand and supply – that there are too many sex-workers chasing few male clients. Hilarious! But read on.
Commercial sex work continues to be a secret undertaking, especially during the night when only mosquitos are awake to disturb a love-making session.
Nobody wants to be called a sex-worker or a prostitute, yet prostitution is said to be the oldest profession on earth, and it’s not about to stop.
Actually, Internet has pushed prostitution into an orgasm because one can ‘buy’ online what they want to chew or to directly swallow.
Probably because of being a Christian nation, Zambia has fruitlessly tried to stop the vice of prostitution.
There have been workshops, empowerment programmes and all sorts of initiatives by both the government and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to nip prostitution in the bud.
But it seems as though every such effort just emboldens prostitution to become a legal act where members of the profession can gather courage to even form a union and affiliate it to the Zambia Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU).
But this story is not about high-class unionism – the Leonard Hikaumba way, back in the years. It’s rather about Ruth Mwite (not real name) of Mazabuka town.
Ruth is an experienced sex-worker who started engaging in the nocturnal trade on the streets of the holy/evil Lusaka city.
When she saw that Lusaka city has so many sex-workers competing for not-so-many big boys, Ruth made up her “business mind” by re-locating to Mazabuka.
Unlike others, she didn’t go to Mazabuka to engage into sugarcane cutting at Zambia Sugar in Nakambala area; she went there to look for more sweeter things in life.
Ruth continued with her sex-work business in the small but sweet town of Mazabuka where stuff can be displayed and seen, with relative ease, by those who want to buy and eat.
But no! There is something that is worrying Ruth about this prostitution work.
According to her narration to #Kalemba, the risky profession of prostitution has seen a large number of young girls and, in some instances, married women joining.
Ruth said commercial sex work in Mazabuka town is sharply increasing, yet would-be buyers of sex are broke, afraid, confined at home by their wives or even committing themselves to God’s work in churches.
She regretted that many young girls and married woman are joining the business for an easy way out of poverty.
Ruth said the number of young girls who are throwing themselves into the act is worrying.
“There are girls as young as 17 years old who are joining,” Ruth said, with a countenance of regret.
“The rapid increase in the business has made men scarce because there are a lot of prostitutes and less men.”
Meanwhile, Ruth indicated that some sex workers get abused by their customers but that not much is done when such cases are reported to police.
“I am doing this to find capital for a business, of which afterwards I will leave and start a decent life,” Ruth said.
Ruth said she gets shocked to see how older men go for the services of younger sex-workers, instead of being their counsellors.
Whatever the case, one can only wish for prostitution to drastically reduce in Zambian towns and cities. After all, it’s even difficult to tell whether people who work in this profession do white-collar or manual work.
By Angela Nambeye in Mazabuka
Kalemba May 18, 2022
