STANDING at a dimly lit street corner opposite a once
popular nightclub in Bulawayo, five skimply dressed sex workers flag down
passing vehicles and individuals on foot soliciting for clients.
It’s not business as usual for the sex workers who have been
operating at the corner of Robert Mugabe Way and 13th Avenue near the now
defunct Club Forty 40. Apart from the usual glances to check on the police
officers on patrol, the five sex workers face a new threat to their business.
Their territory is under threat from fellow sex workers who
used to operate from bars and nightclubs. Getting an impromptu interview from a
sex worker is not easy as they are suspicious of anyone asking questions about
their trade.
In exchange for $80 paid via Ecocash, one of them concedes
to an interview on condition that this reporter doesn’t ask her too many
questions that will lead the police to their territory.
“Show me the transaction before I talk to you, I left my
phone at home so I need to confirm that you have sent the money. The time I
will spend talking to you means I would have lost a potential client so you
better hurry up,” she demands as we move to a better lit area near the main
door of Club Forty 40 where her friends can still see her as we chat.
Satisfied that the $80 has reflected in her account *Ruth*
(not her real name), explains the latest threat to their business.
“The girls who used to operate from bars and nightclubs are
now a big threat because they have now joined us on the streets following the
closure of these night spots. We are doing our best to protect our territoy. We
are saying they should wait for the nightclubs to open because that is where
they should operate from” she said.
Ruth said at times they have been forced to gang up against
newcomers to their territory as they cannot afford to lose their market to
fellow sex workers who used to enjoy themselves in the comfort of bars and
nightclubs.
“We chased away two girls last night and told them never to
come back here,” says Ruth pointing to the direction where her four colleagues
are standing on a street corner.
Taking notes appears to make Ruth nervous hence the
decision to continue the interview without writing anything down.
“Any man with money can be my client. You can be my client,
your best friend can be my client, even your father can be my client,” she
says.
Ruth said most of her clients were motorists so it was easy
to move to a secluded spots for a ‘quick service” in the car before being
dropped off.
“I don’t like drunk clients as they are very problematic
when it’s time to pay,” she says.
The Government this week ordered the closure of bars,
nightclubs and beerhalls as well as other recreational facilities as part of
measures to curb the spread of Covid-19 that has claimed thousands of lives
globally.
Many countries have come up with a raft of measures such as
strict border controls, travel bans and in some extreme cases total lockdowns
in a bid to control the spread of Covid-19 which has infected more than 400 000
people worldwide.
In the streets of Bulawayo, sex workers are finding the
going tough with the closure of bars and nightclubs.
Sex workers such as Ruth are finding themselves having to
fend off competition from other sex workers that previously operated from bars
and nightclubs.
“They used to look down upon us because we could not afford
to hang around in bars and nightclubs due to lack of spending money. They used
to enjoy themselves drinking in the bars before being hired to spend nights at
lodges or clients’ homes but things have changed now,” she says.
Ruth said as workers who have over the years spent nights
in the cold waiting for clients, they were more than prepared to defend their
territory.
Across town, the Saturday Leisure crew observes a number of
sex workers standing in a dark corner close to what appears to be a garage at
corner Herbert Chitepo Street and Connaught Avenue.
One of the sex workers emerges between two broke down
vehicles, apparently dusting herself off with a piece of wrapping cloth and
soon after, a gentleman appears from the shadows and walks off.
The woman crosses the road to join two ladies standing
close to a traffic light, which illuminates their faces.
Two streets away, another group of sex workers is moving up
and down the srteet near an abandoned building but shy away and drift into
dimly lit spaces when our vehicle approaches, clearly waiting to see if a
potential client will emerge and start negotiating for services.
In the midst of Covid-19 pandemic when good hygiene
practices is now a must, one expects all citizens to take precautionary
measures such as washing hands often, wearing masks and gloves but surprisingly
sex workers are not bothered as they are just after money.
Outside a popular hotel near the National Railways of
Zimbabwe main station, close to a dozen sex workers are on the street
soliciting for clients. The doors to the hotel, which houses a number of bars
that used to sell all types of alcohol from lagers to opaque beer, are closed
and the loud music is no more.
A vendor selling boiled eggs and cigarettes near the
entrance of the hotel tells the Saturday Leisure crew that following the
closure of the bars, sex workers that used to operate from the bars were now on
the streets looking for clients.
They were used to sitting around in the bars, drinking beer
and waiting for clients to approach them for sex. Rooms in the hotel are $60
for an hour, which is paid by the client and then girls negotiate for their
fee, usually 50 Rand or the equivalent in local currency.
“It’s not looking good now after the hotel was closed. As
you can see, they are standing outside on the pavements waiting for clients.
Some of the women are married with children so doing business in the hotel
meant there is less risk of being spotted by family members or neighours,” says
the vendor.
So brazen are the sex workers milling around the pavements
that they openly solicit for sex from passing men. What is disturbing is that
the sex workers seem to have thrown caution to the wind when it comes to taking
measures to curb the spread of Covid-19.
Preferred operating spaces are dark places.
In 2016, the Bulawayo City Council accused sex workers of
vandalising street lights to create darkness that favoured their flesh-peddling
trade. A local councillor said he was disheartened when lights were vandalised
by sex workers shortly after being repaired. Chronicle
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