INCURSION IN THE INTIMACY OF WORLD’S OLD JOB
Prostitution, the ultimate choice of surviving!
. Reasons that lead women to practice this job
.Many problems resolved by prostitution
Designated as prostitutes, night’s beauties, bitches or sex workers, the most old world’s job is having a boom in Benin. An incursion, in the privacy of a work that evokes much as revulsion as disregard, lead us to wondrous life’s stories, some joyless than others.
Barnabas OROU KOUMAN
Prostitution, this profession consisting in having sexual relations with somebody in exchange for money with repetition is expanded itself from years to years in our towns. It is a type of sexual economic meticulous exchange, explicit and negotiated in advance. Though, those women involved in prostitution are not, most of them, proud of doing it, prostitution is opening out with many news websites and the adhesion of young Beninese girls. Ones can question his self the reasons that lead women to prostitution.
Prostitution as the obtrude choice
« My husband is a military and he disappeared when I was of five months of my pregnancy. To survive, I borrowed 500.000f from a bank to start selling adulterated essence. But with the prohibition of that trade by Togolese government, all my articles have been taken. I found myself with a debt of 1.017.000f and I didn’t know how to pay it». This is the beginning of Misses Marie’s story, thirty years old met at Parakou. Finding herself from a day to an other with a baby girl to bear, jobless and condemned to pay her debts, Marie was obliged to look for another job. She will leave her country for Benin. After many months jobless at Cotonou, nights spent at church St Michel imploring heavenly help in vain, Marie had to decide of her fate. Reflexions after, Marie decided to use what she has to gain what she wants. No better choice than selling her body. Marie became a night’s beauty.
As Marie, they are nomerous to make this choice before some life’s conditions. « I was the sixth wife of my husband and I have five children. My husband did not take care anymore of I and my children. It is for bearing my children and ensuring their education that I involved in this profession », confessed Misses Lucie, forty, a Beninese. Regarding as to Inès, she should take in charge her two brothers’ education and her mother’s needs after the untimely death of her daddy. « After daddy’s death, family’s responsibilities were mine. I have obliged to abandon school at 17 years old and became a waitress in a bar at Calavi where I discovered this job », she confessed crying.
« I started at Guinkomè and Stade de l’amitié. But due to the costliness of rooms, I came to Parakou », affirmed Marie with a lot of pains. Inès, admitted having take profit of her job of waitress to practice prostitution before completely involved in, « I have been waitress for two years and during that period I gave myself to men for money. I finally stopped waitress’s profession for only this job since three years ».
This is the sad reality hiddened at the back of each woman involved in prostitution. Most of those women are in by restraint. They are in most of the time because they hadn’t have other choice at a moment of their life. They are in because life constrained them.
Why prostitution?
As a saying goes <<In life, one has always the choice >>, deciding to become a prostitute has then been a choice. From the moment a choice is inevitable on them, they would have chosen for another noble job. It then stands out clearly that prostitution is the easiest choice. What’s easiest than a job that does not require a capital or curriculum vitae. Get involved into prostitution seems for the society to be musing and abnormal. It is the lowest level a woman can reach. Opting fot this job no matter what the circumstances is a proof of disreputation and also to get submerged in an ambarracing shameless.
Nevertheless, one earns his living
« Thanks to God, I have been able to pay back all my debts through this job », says Marie before adding «I even bought a plot of land almost at the end of building». All as Marie, prostitutes succeed in earning their living. Most of them, having to take care of their families, send money to the latters or save up for the accomplishment of some of their projects.Others like Love, save up to get mariage, « i am saving up for my wedding. When i Will have the necessary of amount, i Will go back home and get mariage ». Thanks to this job Lucie has been able to take in charge her five children. Among the five, one is already employed, the other one has his Bachelor degree and is in training at that moment. Marie at her turn, has a daughter of 18 in apprenticeship of haute couture.
Sex working organisation
Even if this job slog to be acknowledged by the government and accepted by the society, the actors of the job try to adapt to some rules that they have settled with time. Then, from Cotonou to Parakou the price varies whether depending on the girl’s morphology, whether depending on the clients requirements or the sex’s size. « Here one take one thousand per round, sometimes, one can earn until six thousands and even ten thousands per round when the client requires caresses, positions, groanings and others», explains lady Marie. According to Prostitutes’ sayings it happens that clients wish for passing the whole night with them, which rises auction. Other clients propose to have sex with them without condoms exposing prostitutes to all kinds of Sexual Transmitted Diseases.( Std)
Free medical follow-up
Exposed to all kind of diseases, a medical follow-up is then needed. « Nowadays, there is a project which takes them in charge. The project lasts ten months renewable aiming to sensitize because prostitutes are people exposed to risks», has affirmed Marc Adjalla a state graduated male nurse and officer of adapted services at Osv Jordan. In fact, it is a national program which gives to the adapted services medecines/drugs. « To benefit from those cares for nothing, every single sex worker must present her monthly follow-up notebook wich is like her identity card», he precised.
Associations for the defense of Prostitute’s interests
Besides, to better regulate the sector, sex workers create associations by themselves. The designated officiers are burden with defending the rights of their pairs. They help to resolve problems linked to the job’s risks such as violences, abuses, grave Diseases, or death.
Run back to sex workers, the solution for some men
Numerous are those men(clients) going to sex workers for differents reasons. Some of those men go there to avoid multiple spendings on girlfriends whereas for others it is to satisfy their libido that they do not succeed in doing at home. The third category is the one of men who are afraid of accosting a woman. The latter prefer just to pay in order to satisfy their Sexual desire. The fourth category is the one of men who have travelled without their girlfriends. To then satisfy their needs or desire they run back to prostitute’s services. From one to another of the cases, the result is the same, the satisfaction of sexual needs depending on one’s means.
Prostitutes’ utility
The job of sex working though perceived as bad by the society plays a very important role. According to Dr. Sotima S. Tchantikpo teacher-researcher at University of Parakou, « the job of sex working as the majority of jobs fulfil one public function». The specialist of social problems analyses this job on social way and thinks that it contributes to the reduction of sexual crime against children. To the man of health Marc Adjalla to add, «our role is not to sensitize to stop prostitution because it is a very important job nowadays for our nation for the fact that it reduces the rate of rape in our society».
The other problem that the job of sex solves is the fact of taken into charge many people. Through this job, many prostitutes take care of their families, ensure the education of their brothers and children and create activities generator of revenues. Others actors who benefit from this job are the room owners of those prostitutes, very expensive accommodations for those prostitutes (from two thousands to fifteen thousands per day and per girl according to the area and comfort).
It is then worth to retain
Sex working, the oldest job in the world is « seen as an easy solution for women, a short cut since it requires no year of training, no fees for training just a courage», said Dr. Raoul Atadé gynaecologist obstetrician at the hospital of Armed Inspection of Parakou. The ideology that human beings have on this job is somehow true and contains some realities. Those women go into prostitution to earn their living. By practicing it, they not only take care of their families but also satisfy the sexual desire of many people limiting then the rape’s risks, abuses, and other social problems. It is then imperious for the government to go along with this job for its well organisation and legalisation as it is the case in many other countries for the interests of all. But before getting there, Dr. Raoul Atadé advice, « as soon as the abnormal signs appear on their genital parts, they must very soon consult a specialist and not be ashamed to introduce themselves as sex workers».
Translation : Maroufatou KAKPO (Stg)
