800 Registered Commercial Sex Workers In Beitbridge
…350 of them on ART
By Mvelo Mthiyane Zondo
BEITBRIDGE, Zimbabwe and Sub-Saharan busiest inland port is also a hive of sex activities with 800 registered sex workers, according to the National Aids Council of Zimbabwe (NAC).
Of these 350 are on anti-retroviral treatment (ART), NAC says is a positive move reflecting the organisation and National strides towards their campaigns of eradicating new infections by 2025.
Current targets for HIV testing and treatment are called the 95,95,95 target and must be reached by 2025 in order to end AIDS by 2030.
Beitbridge border town has an estimated population of approximately 100 000 with some transient.
Presenting during a media tour in Beitbridge the NAC Beitbridge District Aids Coordinator Edward Mulaudzi said it can not be qualified that Beitbridge breeds sex workers because most arrive in search for employment from other provinces.
“In as much as people might think Beitbridge has more sex workers, this does not paint a picture that it is the breeding ground. Most of these sex workers are coming as far as Mhondoro, Masvingo and Bindura,” he said.
“They are here to search of greener pastures as you know there are plenty cross border trucks and some people who work here left their families behind. So these two classes get sexual services from these ladies,” said Mulaudzi.
Beitbridge has an organisation called Centre for Sexual Health Hiv and Aids (CerSHHAR) wheresex workers get services like screening and treatment of STIs, HiV testing, ART supplies and adherence support among others.
In giving their testimonials, sex workers drafted into peer education under the Sister to Sister programmes gave hair raising episodes with some saying they started sex work as early as at 13 years.
“My name is Anitta and I am 23 years old. I come from Nhwali area in Gwanda. I started sex work after dropping out of school due to pregnancy. By then I was doing form 3 under the guardianship of my grandmother. My parents divorced and are staying separately here in Beitbridge,” she said.
“When my grandmother discovered that I was pregnant she then chased me saying my mother must carry the burden since she had done her turn. It was during this period I moved to Beitbridge to join my mother but unfortunately her accommodation was inadequate forcing me to start out alone,” she said.
She had tried her father but was forced away by neglect and an unfriendly stepmother.
“The pregnancy was not visible at three months, so my friend came to my rescue as she invited me to her lodgings where she introduced me to sex work,” said Anitta.
Left with no choice she joined the world’s oldest trade to prepare for her expected child and her new business boomed as clients preferred her age.
And that came with infection.
Another sex worker who is also a peer educator now under the CerSHHAR programme revealed how she started sex work in 2010.
“I have 13 years of experience in sex work. When I left home in Mhondoro I headed for Beitbridge in search of greener pastures. Upon arrival I joined sex work because I wanted quick money having left behind my ailing grandmother who raised me up as an orphan,” she said.
“My parents died as a result of Aids. A month after starting work, I bought medication and heavy groceries which I personally took home and I lied to my village mates and relatives that I am working as a security guard for a well paying private company,” said 29 year old Nkatha.
The majority of the sex workers who gave their testimonials said their profession used to pay handsomely during their mid 2000s when they were few in the now flooded trade.
On average they used to cash in between $130 and $150 during busy day but now they are netting less than $100.
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