{UAH} THE OTHER SIDE OF VIC FALLS

The other side of Vic Falls

October 31, 2013 Shingirai Huni Opinion & Analysis

TOURIST ATTRACTION? . . . Ladies of the night wear enticing clothes like mini-miniskirts and bum shorts to attract men including tourists

Betty Mageza Features Writer
Prostitution remains a difficult and thorny issue in many communities in Zimbabwe and the world over, despite receiving a fair share of lashing.

The world’s oldest profession thrives on as efforts to thwart it yield not tangible results. Even the HIV and Aids scourge has failed to scare away many people from it, despite concerted efforts.

Is the message not reaching the targeted audience or people are just being adamant? It remains my sincere hope that the Government and other stakeholders come on board to curb this evil that has flourished like a poisonous flower in the swamps of our day-to-day lives.
When news came to me that I was going to work in the border town of Victoria Falls, I did not think twice. I received the news with both arms. The reality that there was no one I knew there never bothered me. All I wanted was to go, start a new life and meet new people (the tourists in particular). I could not wait to be in the so called Disneyland of Zimbabwe. I just wished time could fly so that I become part and parcel of the tourist community.

A week before my departure I had to do some rounds to my friends and family to bid them goodbye, in line with our culture.
On the eve of departure as we sat in the lounge with my uncle whom I consider my “encyclopedia”, and many relatives lectured me at length about good behaviour and prevalent prostitution.

All the advice revolved around the high rate of prostitution and HIV prevalence in the border town of Victoria Falls. Of course, all that they said was not news to me since the time was ripe for me to see things with my own eyes.

My first week in Victoria Falls was not all that rosy. I had no friends, the workplace turned out to be a nightmare. I was working with the Chinese and communication with most of my workmates was restricted to the general “hallo. . . hallo” only. Knowing myself, it was a matter of time, sooner or later I would have company. What boggled my mind was that was I going find the right company, those that will not change me or try to tarnish my image? On that one I knew a mammoth task was ahead of me.

As days passed on I had made a cocktail of friends from the general workers on the construction site I worked, the ladies who worked at the engineers’ accommodation and the engineers themselves. Same as me, the engineers had come from Harare and had that zeal to know Victoria Falls inside out. This means there was going to be a lot of going out whenever time permitted.

The first months of my jaunt were just a “see and believe”, as I never bothered to talk to any of the ladies and find out what stirred them to get into such a business.

Fashion-wise it was not a big task to see who was who in these leisure places as most of the prostitutes wore enticing clothes like bum shorts, mini-miniskirts, I mean the skirts resembled a waist belt. The way they danced and walked, it was all business. They really were on a man-hunting spree. On all the outings I would make sure that I position myself in a way that I would be able to see everyone, those coming in and going out. My new crew and I would be just seated having our drinks, nodding to the music, interpolating how my local sisters were dressed, and all those ills that we had come with from Harare in respect of the prostitution rate.

What puzzled me most was the age of some of the revellers. Some of them were still of school-going age. Given their age I wondered if these young girls would be able to stand their ground on what course the short relationship would take in terms of the use of condoms to avoid unplanned pregnancies and contracting STIs.

The “see and believe” mission was accomplished what awaited me was now to get first hand information from the subjects to ascertain the driving force behind prostitution.

Putting into play my learned communication skills or rather public relations skills, on some occasions I had to play prostitute in order for me to talk to the ladies.

In most cases it was not difficult for my fellow sisters to notice that I was new to this town, worse still Ndebele, Tonga and Nambya languages were far from my accent. However, I would always find my way and one story would lead into another. On various occasions the ladies that I talked to bemoaned how business was dwindling due to the economic hardships bedevilling the country.

However, most of them were very hopeful that fortune will find “them” come the much anticipated United Nations World Tourism Organisation General Assembly that was being co-hosted by Zimbabwe and Zambia. Jokingly one of the ladies said the UNWTO event was reason for me to come here so that I would up my business. I just laughed at the joke though it was in bad taste.

From the conversation that I had with the “ladies of the night”, poverty was the major driving force into this business. One lady, Sisasenkosi popularly known as MaNcube in the trade, argued that the root of prostitution lay in economics. “Women in most societies are placed in an economically vulnerable position which leaves them with no option but to be ladies of the night,” she said.

True to her words, during the period of economic meltdown prostitution was rife and so was the HIV prevalence rate. Siyanda, the bar tender at one of the leisure places, argued that unemployment hits women in particular and causes an enormous increase in the army of “street women”.

To some ladies prostitution was like any other job as Amanda bluntly stated that “lumsebenzi wesilehule unginikeza imali eningi njala ufana leminye imisebenzi” loosely translated it means, “nothing can beat prostitution for endurance”.

Fifteen-year-old Natasha argued that poverty was at the centre of the prostitution dialogue. She had lost both her parents at the age of 13 and at 14 things became tough for her as she was supposed to take care of her seven-years-old twin brothers. That is when she thought of getting herself into prostitution. To her the business seemed lucrative as she could now afford to fend for herself and send her brothers to school.

As time passed on we went to many places including the surrounding rural areas. I became much more worried at the realisation that prostitution doesn’t even spare anyone, from young girls (of school-going age), the middle aged, worse still the aged ones. Thirteen- year-old Ntombizodwa did not mince her words; she clearly stated that she was into prostitution because everyone around her was doing it.
Could it be that these young girls were caught up in economic hardships that called them into this industry? Were they into prostitution for the fun of it? Could it be that it is a pathological phenomenon, i.e. it is a result of the abnormalities of certain women, just as some people are criminal by nature, some prostitutes by nature? In reality none of the reasons impressed.

Worse still, some of the young girls could not even tell how they ended up in prostitution.
I wondered if ever they can stand their ground and be given the agreed remuneration for their services or insist on the use of protection against STIs.

Back there in my rural home in Mutasa, Manicaland, elders remain the custodian of our cultures. I wonder where the elders of these communities where hiding? Are they not seeing the bad that is being done by these young girls who should be at school?

Although it remains a challenge to fight prostitution, I am sure it is a challenge worth rising to. Fighting prostitution will be killing many birds with one stone. Four of the Millennium Development Goals will be achieved which are, eradicating extreme poverty, achieving universal primary education, empowering women and fight against HIV and Aids.

So, it remains my sincere hope that Government and other stakeholders will not only confront this problem, but seek a solution that is in line with basic principles of social and economic change.

Betty Mageza is a journalist based in Victoria Falls. She can be contacted on magezabetty@yahoo.com

 

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