WHEN the Zimbabwe military took over policing operations
following the ouster of President Robert Mugabe on November 21, motorists who
have borne untold harassment at the hands of traffic police officers
celebrated.
But far from the highways, in the city’s byways and
streets, commercial sex workers who used to play cat-and-mouse games with the
police also celebrated the opportunity to do their work without police
harassment.
After the army’s intervention, police officers
“disappeared” from the streets as soldiers became overnight heroes.
This saw commercial sex workers, who accuse the police of
brutality and extortionist tendencies as well as “sex-for-freedom” deals upon
arrest, expressing joy and excitement at the turn of events as police night
patrols in the red-light districts ceased.
Commercial sex workers are hopeful the army and police
joint operation to restore order, which was recently announced, will have
positive effect on how they are treated by some law enforcement agents.
A sex worker, who identified herself as Sharon, said she
saw a surge in business and her daily takings increased.
“I experienced a high boom in my business in the past weeks
like never before because police could not rob us our money. Our clients could
feel free. Everything ran smoothly,” she said.
A snap survey conducted by NewsDay Weekender showed that
commercial sex workers often suffered tremendous abuse from the police.
Another sex worker operating at Kambuzuma Section 5
shopping centre said she was pleased with the advent of military policing
because the environment was now favourable for business.
“We are very excited because police officers have stopped
to victimising us. We are now operating freely without losing our money to
police through bribes or risks of getting raped and the way police treated us
should change when things get back to normal,” she said.
The sex workers in Kambuzuma used deserted buildings and
cabins close to nightclubs for their “sexcapades”.
“Police officers used to come here daily to raid our bases
where we pay a certain fee for every session and if caught in action they would
then ask our clients to give them a bribe or risk arrest,” she said, adding
that once the police released the client, they would turn to the sex worker and
demand free sex.
Another sex worker, Sally, confirmed the abuse, which she
said exposed them to sexually transmitted infections.
“They can be two officers asking for free sex. If we deny
them, we risk losing all the money we would have worked for that day, so we end
up giving in,” she said.
She described the sex trade as of paramount significance to
them as they pay rentals and provide food for themselves and their families out
of it.
With the coming of military policing, problems which were
being faced by commercial sex workers have since vanished from the scene.
Human rights activists have in the past been in the media
blaming police officers as great abusers of commercial sex workers thus
violating the rights of women enshrined in the Constitution.
The Constitutional Court in 2015 only banned the arrest of
women on charges of soliciting for intimacy in the absence of male customers
confirming they were offered the service for a fee.
Although the court did not legalise the sex trade, it
barred police officers from unnecessarily harassing women suspected to be
soliciting for sex without proof.
A commercial sex worker who operates in Mutare, Maka,
hailed the military for taking over policing duties.
“Thumbs up to the military which barred corrupt and vicious
police officers from sexually abusing and robbing us,” she said,
Women’s Action and Support Centre (WASC) director Musline
Munodawafa, said they had heard reports on the abuse of commercial sex workers
by the police.
“We have heard about that, it is not only in Mutare but in
most parts of the country. However, currently we do not have tangible evidence
to take action against the alleged abusers,” she said.
Munodawafa said they were part of Women’s Coalition of
Zimbabwe which is pushing the government to legalise the sex trade in the
country.
She said WSAC had identified problems which force women and
young girls to join the bandwagon of sex workers in the country resulting in
sexual abused and set strategies to combat such.
“As WASC, we are empowering women through giving them
access to loans, skills training and access to information. Economic
empowerment plays a vital role in poverty alleviation as they become
entrepreneurs and innovators,” she said. Newsday
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