It really saddens my heart when I hear people badmouthing prostitutes. I think to myself, aaah have you bothered having a conversation with one to find out why she is doing what she is does?
People just get up and start saying shit about how they should be arrested, fined and jailed. For what? Isn't she working? Why don't police go to people's offices to arrest them for working?
''You kraa, why are you defending them? Do you want to become one of them?'' This is usually the ignorant non-response I get when I make this argument.
NONSENSE!
Who do you call a prostitute? The girl that stands by the street trying to make ends meet? If you decide to be an open-minded person, you realise that prostitutes are not just the girls that stand by the street. There are those that live in your home. If your father is the kind of man that goes around chasing every living thing that has two legs and a pair of breasts, those girls are probably also prostitutes but not the kind you see in the street.
There are married women who sleep around because they are not content with the money their husbands give them. So they sleep with others. For money? Sound familiar? There are even some with pretty rich husbands who still sleep around for money. Does the fact that they are not on the streets exposing their bodies and asking for money mean they are not prostitutes too?
''Ooooh I am going to Nigeria for the weekend''. This is what some university girls say. Apparently, the new thing going on in our beloved country Ghana is some university girls hook themselves up with rich Nigerian men who throw money around. You get GHc 1000 for a weekend. Is this not a form of prostitution?
Maybe she is doing this because she is having a hard time getting a decent job. Chale, even people that have been to university find it hard to get jobs in the first few years after school, so how much more someone who hasn't been to one before. What if there is a crisis in her family and no one is willing to help? Say, her father is dying and her mother doesn't have money to sort out the bills. What do you want her to do?
It is true there are other alternatives but what if this is the only one she is capable of doing?
I ask this question again, who is a prostitute? What makes her a prostitute? And why should you judge her?
Within the women's rights world/development world the appropriate term is now 'sex workers' which i think accurately reflects the 'work' aspect
ReplyDeleteTrue Nana. I tried replacing it with sex worker right now but it was killing the vibe of the post so pardon me for maintaining it.
ReplyDeleteI understand where you are coming from and totally agree with your stance, everyone has a right to earn a living the best way they know how to at a particular time.
ReplyDeleteBut prostitution is illegal just as armed robbery and public acts of sodomy. So on that front prostitutes, oops sex workers, should find a more honest way to make a buck (honest here is anything that wont land your ass in jail).I'll save my thoughts about the semantics of the word prostitute for later since it opens up a whole can of nasty worms with men also being prostitutes some times.
I like the fire with which you've started the blog, I hope you'll have the stamina to keep it up.
_some typos need correction_
@Duke.. I also understand where you are coming from but i ask, what do you define as honest? Is it because the society's system frowns upon it? I will only have a problem with anyone who sells sex for a living if he or she is forced to do so by another person. As a believer of choice, one should be able to use what they have to get what they need. That's honesty.
ReplyDeleteI encourage the right to choose, these sex workers or "Ashawos" do not go around seducing anyone, its those who want their services that go to them. Might be sad from where we stand but i we are not in the place to say its RIGHT or RIGHT!
Nothing is for Nothing.