By Charles Tjatindi
WINDHOEK
In an effort to cover basic necessities and provide for themselves more and more young girls are allegedly turning to sex work, or prostitution.
Fuelling this development are their parents, who are allegedly supporting the practice by offering their children to older men for payment.
New era caught up with a few of these children, whose ages range from 15 to 16, most of whom reveal that they have been in the sex trade for more than three years.
Some dropped out of school after their parents allegedly failed to keep up with school fees and travelling expenses, and have now taken up the trade on a full-time basis.
New Era learned that learners at some schools are also involved in the trade during weekends and holidays to supplement their pocket money.
The real names of sex workers interviewed were withheld to protect their identities.
Alma, a 16-year-old from the south related how she juggles her schoolwork with life on the streets.
“When I am out of the hostel on out-weekends is when I do this business. I travel to Windhoek and do it there, or simply go to Rehoboth … but people in Windhoek pay more,” she said.
Alma noted that the main reason she got involved in the sex trade is because she wants to have pocket money for basic toiletries and other things which she needs while living in the school hostel.
“You see other kids wearing nice jeans and takkies, they look so nice. I also want to look good like them, ” she said.
Monalisa, a friend of Alma is another learner involved in the sex trade. She left school last year, and now participates in the sex trade on a full-time basis. She says she had to choose between living an impoverished life while attending school, or simply taking to the streets for a “better life”. The streets won.
“Life on the streets is not always good … sleeping with all those men. But I need the money … it’s good to have the money in your hands afterwards,” she notes.
Some of the girls say they report someone who refuses to pay to the police, claiming they were molested.
Sources revealed that some men have already been arrested as a result, and are currently in custody.
According to sources, parents from impoverished informal settlements in Windhoek and other towns are mostly to blame for sending young girls out to fend for themselves. One girl told New Era that her stepfather who wanted to sleep with her after her mother passed away forced her into prostitution.
“I went to live with friends. As I needed an income, they taught me how to do ‘business’ on the streets …”, she said, adding “… I want to stop this, but don’t know how.”
The practice is said to be especially rife in the south, where the mobility of trucks passing the small towns prove a fertile ground for prostitution. Truck drivers in transit offer young girls money in exchange for sex, something that these young girls allegedly never manage to shake off once they get involved.
Father Herman Klein-Hitpass of the Roman Catholic Church, who runs rehabilitation programmes for former sex workers noted that he has come across large numbers of girls involved in prostitution, and is worried about the risks of them contracting HIV.
“I have seen a lot of these kids succumbing to HIV. It is a risky activity, and they need to stop doing it. They will only put themselves at a disadvantage. It is their own lives they are gambling with,” he said.
Klein-Hitpass called for intervention by Government and civil organisations to stop the practice, which he said could be detrimental to efforts to fight HIV/Aids.
“How will you fight Aids with cases like these. These kids need to be stopped. I had some on my programme, but they ran back to the streets after a few sessions. Something needs to be done,” he said.