I believe that the debate on
whether poverty is the key driver to sex work or not is as old as the
profession itself. So many theories,
counter -theories, arguments and counterarguments have been put forward on this
issue by many scholars, social commentators and many other distinguished people
in the society including you and me.
Adolescent girls are reportedly
the ones who form the majority of sex workers not only in Malawi but in many
other countries as well. It is said that this is a kind of work they do to earn
an income in order to afford; fashionable clothes, descent meals and pay utility
bills.
However, sex work is not a panacea for poverty
hence this entry is an attempt to exhume the negative side effects of doing sex
work but not, in any way, stigmatizing those who are involved in sex work
activities.
Men calculatingly exploit young
girls who are in dire need of support and they always take advantage of
vulnerable children like orphaned girls. Once such vulnerable young girls are
offered some money after the ordeal of sleeping with such heartless men, it is
like a ‘Pandora Box’ has been opened. They
simply fail to fathom the idea of ever sleeping on an empty stomach again; they
feel that the time of taking a bath without soap and then get dressed in rugged
clothes is over- to them it is a time to say bye to poverty.
As such, this entry only
underscores the fact that education is a key to poverty eradication. The
development of our country is, to a certain extent, retrogressing. What we
need are educated young men and women to work in our factories, brilliant economists
to turn around the tables, business administrators to change the status quo and
what have you. The last thing Malawi needs, in her poverty eradication efforts,
are high school dropout rates.
What follows when a young girl
starts earning income by sleeping around with men? Your response is as good as mine;
she may get STIs including HIV or an early pregnancy (with all or some of its attendant
problems). She may also get both STIs and an early pregnancy. All these scenarios
are very expensive than going to school. For instance, once she is impregnated
by an unknown heartless man, she will only be left with another mouth to feed
and another body to dress.
In consideration of the above
points, escaping poverty should not entail dropping out of school in order to
start sleeping around with men to earn a living. Whether sex workers are victims
of Poverty or not…young girls should know that sex work is not a solution to
their poverty but something that fuels the poverty.
Allow me to echo what Maganizo’s
father once said in one of Malawian literature books; Education is like a root from a good medicine man, it never fails!
