This is the sad story of a prostitute who was r*ped at 13 and forced into prostitution. The girl who is now 23 years from Zimbabwe has shared her touching story with H-metro.
SIBONGILE (not her real name) , a s*x worker plying her trade in
the streets of City of Kings and Queens says she has been raped several
times since the age of 13 and has since lost count.
Fondly known as Scotchy in the world’s oldest profession, the now
23-year-old s*x worker chronicles how she was first raped at 13 by a
neighbour in her rural Entepe village, Gwanda, resulting in her giving
birth to her now 9-year-old child.
“I have been ra ped since I was 13 after my mother died of full
blown AIDS in 2002. History has continued to repeat itself and I have
been raped countless times ever since I got into prostitution,” says
Scotchy.
A product of a child headed family following their mother’s death,
the 23-year-old and her late sister were left to fend for themselves at a
very tender age as relatives did not want to associate with them in
fear of ‘contracting the virus’.
She recounts how they were stigmatised following their mother’s
death in their rural home back then as a result some neighbour, a man,
who disguised as a ‘Good Samaritan’ started giving them food.
“He would however come during the night and demand s*x from us. He
started to sleep with us and this happened for more than a year. My
sister fell sick and died; I was later to find out that she had also
succumbed to HIV.
“After her death, I also realised that I was pregnant and so I
decided to run away from my rural home before people started talking. We
had already been labelled girls of loose morals whose mother had died
of the ‘disease’ in the village”.
MOVING TO BULAWAYO
She was to move to Bulawayo where she got a job as a maid and
worked for a month: “I worked for a month before my employer dismissed
me saying that she could not continue staying with me since I had no
birth certificate.
“I went into the streets and by now my tummy was bulging.”
While she loitered in the streets of City of Kings and Queens
scavenging for food, Scotchy said she noticed girls who would stand in
the streets almost naked at night, that is when she approached them and
asked what business they were into.
“The girls were very welcoming and they told me that they earned a
living through selling s*x. I fast joined the profession and believe me
it was not easy.
“For the first month I offered my services for free as I did not
know how to negotiate and get my money before offering services. The
majority of the men took advantage of the rookie in me and got away
without paying.
“It was a struggle, being pregnant and fast learning to be a hard
core s*x worker. I did s*x work until the pregnancy was full term and
only went to the hospital when I was in labour.
“After giving birth, I told the nurses that I had nowhere to go
with the child as I was a s*x worker of no fixed aboard. The hospital
tried to link me to the social welfare but the officers who attended to
me bluntly told me that they had no room for a s*x worker and her
child,” adds Scotchy.
With nowhere to go after giving birth, Scotchy left the hospital
and went into the streets before meeting a woman who said she was her
sister from her rural home.
The woman took her and the child in her home before Scotchy left
the baby with her and moved to Beitbridge in search of greener pastures
but it turned out that the grass was not so green in the border town.
“I worked for the first week and tried very hard to lure the new
clients in Beitbridge. In most cases I would offer unprotected s*x
because no one had ever taught me to negotiate for safe s*x.
“I then contracted a sexual transmitted infection which was so
severe such that I couldn’t work. I went back to Bulawayo to my sister
who took me to the hospital. While I was in hospital, nurses took turns
to look at me and gossiped about my rare STI condition”.
CESHHAR COMES TO THE RESCUE
“I could not stand this and I ran away before I could be initiated
on STI treatment. I went back to the streets but I couldn’t work because
I was very sick. Some girls then told me about Centre for Se xual
Health HIV and AIDS Research (CeSHHAR) and how it had a clinic which
offered friendly services.
“I approached them and for the first time after losing my mother, I
had a sense of belonging with the welcome that I was given at CeSHHAR. I
got treatment for the infection and after completion; the girls at
CESHHAR then sat me down and educated me about the dangers of having
unprotected s*x and how I can be safe in my line of trade,” adds
Scotchy.
STARTING PRE-EXPOSURE PROPHYLAXIS (PrEP)
“I had an HIV test and I tested negative. After the test, they told
me about PrEP and I felt this was the only way I could be protected
against getting an HIV infection. I still thank God that after all that I
have been through, I did not get infected.
“I started taking PrEP in 2014 and I’m now in a better position to
negotiate for safe s*x. The job still has its challenges such that
sometimes you still find men who don’t want to use protection and they
even use force.”
The use of PrEP comes after the World Health Organisation (WHO)
recommended it as a prevention choice for people at substantial risk of
HIV infection as part of combination prevention approaches.
WHO defines PrEP as the use of an antiretroviral medication to prevent the acquisition of HIV infection by uninfected persons.
PrEP may either be taken orally, using an antiretroviral drug
available for treatment of HIV infection (tenofovir plus emtricitabine),
or topically as a vaginal gel containing tenofovir.
CONCOURT OUTLAWS PROSTITUTES ARREST EFFECT
After the several spates of abuse and attacks, Scotchy says the police stations are a no go area:
“Because we have no police protection and we work during the night,
I have been raped several times in the dark and I now know it’s
pointless to report the cases.
“I have tried to report the rape cases and one police officer told
me that this was a result of the ConCourt ruling hence there was no way
they could protect us.
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