75% OF SEX WORKERS ARE EMPLOYED WOMEN

MBABANE – A retired sex worker has alleged that out of every 10 women who are employed in various sectors, at least seven double as sex workers.

Sex work is the exchange of sexual services, performances or products for material monetary or material compensation. It is also sometimes informally dubbed as ‘the oldest profession’. A sex worker is a person who provides sex work, either on a regular or occasional basis. This is used in reference to those who work in all areas of the sex industry. In Eswatini, sex work, which is sometimes informally referred to as ‘prostitution’, is illegal by law. However, it is still a practised ‘profession’ and considered  very lucrative.

Services

Worldwide, US$180 billion (E3.25 trillion) is spent each year on the global sex trade, with millions of women providing services as sex workers. Some are forced into the trade due to human traffickers, while others enter the trade due to financial hardships. This is according to a report on ‘Britannica ProCon.Org’. *Lollypie, who said she worked as a sex worker for over 20 years before retiring, said many employed women had huge financial responsibilities. She said for many women, having a 8am-5pm   job did not satisfy their financial needs. Lollypie said due to this, they ended up looking for other means of financial freedom.

“Truth is, salaries are not lucrative enough in our country, so most of the women I used to work with would finish their office day jobs and take up sex work in the evening,” alleged Lollypie. She said personally, she was driven to join the sex industry because she was not employed at the time, yet had financial responsibilities. “I had school-going children,who needed  me to ensure they are educated, fed, clothed and sheltered,” she said. Lollypie is now a civil servant and decided to quit the sex trade. The former sex worker is now also happily married.

She, however, emphasised that she did not immediately quit her sex work  even after she had joined the government. “I used to have clients in South Africa (SA) so I could not just drop them because I was now employed, so I eased out of it over time,” she said. Lollypie said there was a perception among the public that sex workers were people who were jobless and without families. “This not true,” she said, adding that some had good jobs and earned large salaries but had financial needs that were bigger than their monthly salaries.

Sectors

She alleged that they were employed in various sectors from civil servants, law enforcement officers to private corporates. “I don’t think there is an industry without sex workers,” she said. Also, Lollypie revealed that some of the sex workers even financially supported their husbands, who were unaware that they were in the profession. “We built houses using the  very same money,” she said. She also added that there were different types of sex workers. Some, according to Lollypie, paraded at certain spots  which are commonly known, such as Matsapha or Buhleni.

However, she also said some of the sex workers did not do it publicly but advertised themselves using social media or through random calls by dialling a random number with the hope that a man would answer. She said some directly sourced for clients via social media because some men were afraid to drive around looking for a sex worker. Lollypie said more people were being recruited daily and that the usual starting age was around 14 years old and that young sex workers were often recruited by relatives, who were also in the profession. Depending on their types of clients and areas, Lollypie said sex workers were able to make over E1 000 per day. She said the most rewarding was oral sex, which she said the sex workers referred to as ‘ku bamba i mic’, meaning, ‘holding the microphone’.

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