Children selling their bodies to earn a living

By Jairos Saunyama

MARONDERA – Spotting a skimpy black short skirt that reveals the greater part of her legs with a matching white blouse, 15-year old Natasha Mutombeni (not her real name) waitS at the entrance that leads into a nightclub at Dombotombo popularly known as Pakirawa in Marondera.

Pakirawa is a name where members of the apostolic sect converge to conduct their prayers and at this juncture, it means a number of people meet at Dombotombo Shopping Centre.

Braving the chilly cold night, the young lady in high heels spent the next hour smiling at every patron that entered the drinking hole. On the other end are two other women that look way older than Natasha.

A Toyota Hiace Commuter omnibus pulls in front of the watering hole and in it disembark four heavily drunk men. As if looking for a needle in a bunch of grass, one of the men looks at the two women, passes them before forcibly grabbing Natasha by the hand.

The man whispers something into Natasha’s ears, and in no time they all disappear into the thick darkness. This is not only about Natasha, but a lot of young girls in and around Marondera who joined the oldest profession in the world.

This reporter witnessed the influx of young girls at Pakirawa both during the day and at night, milling around for the purpose of prostitution.

“Life is hard these days. I need to survive. I get quick money and buy myself goodies,” said Natasha after returning to the night club after a short time.

Pakirawa has become the hunting ground for both young and old women who are reportedly coming from Harare and Mutare. The girls book a nearby sub-standard lodge for the whole weekend.

“I stay in Dangamvura in Mutare but I do come to Marondera to work as a prostitute. In Mutare there is no business as compared to Marondera, because of the influx of sex workers. We do book here $10 per night and sometimes I engage a fellow sex worker and we contribute $5 for the room. Some come from Harare,” she said.

Child prostitution has become rife and this is blamed on the country’s dire economic situation and the destruction of the social structure. The number of child headed families has increased leaving the girl child exposed to heinous acts to save her siblings.

The HIV and AIDS scourge cannot be left aside as it has contributed immensely to the existence of child headed families. Natasha’s story leaves the lighthearted wetting their eyes with tears as the young girl revealed how much she earns after having sex.

“I charge $5 for a quickie but if it is mid-month my clients are usually broke and they can negotiate down to $3. I have no option because what I need is money. To those clients who don’t want to use protection, I charge $10 for a quickie as insurance cover,” she said
forcing a smile.

Natasha, now popularly known as Wasu because of her Manyika accent, said she is aware of the HIV/AIDS pandemic but revealed that she has to take care of her siblings. She said that she can serve five men per night making them 15 men between Friday and Saturday.

“My mother went to South Africa five years ago after the death of my father but never returned. I have two brothers who all need to be taken care of.

My grandmother is a pensioner and her money is little to take care of us. I dropped out of school two years ago while in Form one. In three days I can get $75 or $80. I only entertain clients who prefer a quickie because it saves time for me to get more customers,” she said positioning her pear-shaped breasts as she tore into the nightclub.

In a bid to curb corruption, government through the police has been arresting and detaining prostitutes but to no avail.

Meanwhile UNICEF is working closely with children around the country to protect them from being involved in prostitution. Through its Young People We Care Programme, the organization targets some 15,000 youths with information on how to avoid the trap of prostitution, which is rampant because of poverty.

Judith Sherman, Unicef’s HIV/AIDS advisor, said: “What we realized is that most young people in Zimbabwe today have grown up during an era of HIV and AIDS. For the past three decades the disease has been prevalent in their lives.”

The influx of child prostitutes at Pakirawa has left residents in the near high density suburb angry over police and relevant authorities for not dealing with the issue.

The residents have also blasted Marondera Town Council for not renovating the abandoned Dombotombo Hostels which have become the hub of criminal activities among them prostitution. The hostels were declared uninhabitable in 2003 and up to date no work has been done to renovate them.

Marondera Town Mayor Anthony Makwindi admitted that the local authority has financial constraints but is working flat out to renovate the hostels that have become a home to serious social vices.

“It is high time we need to renovate the hostels. So far we have received two tenders from companies who want to be contracted to do the work,” said Makwindi.

Marondera District Crime Consultative Chairman chairperson and Zimbabwe Youth Council provincial spokesperson Dunmore Mutyambizi said there is need to engage the community over the issue.

“It is worrisome that child prostitution is now rampant in the area. The family structure which is initially tasked with rearing children into adulthood is failing to keep up to the basic demand hence we seeing decanted onto the streets in broad daylight and even more treacherous in this case, at night.

“We cannot condone such behaviour on the basis of economic factors. More certainly needs to be done than just trying to stop the tide. An engagement process by the community through the many churches now available, community leaders and social workers must ground truth on the causes of this disturbing pattern and make recommendations to responsible authorities which include but not limited to policy makers and the police,” said Mutyambizi.

Efforts to get a comment for Marondera Police were futile as they said they do not entertain private media.

But Young People’s Network on Sexual Reproductive Health HIV and Aids (YPNSRHHA), provincial chairperson Tinotenda Kabai said his organization has been on an educational campaign to educate the youths on the dangers of child prostitution.

“In as far as child prostitution is concerned reports have been received that young people are now indulging in risky behaviour like commercial sex work and efforts are underway with consultations from the police.

“To curb the spread of HIV among youths we have employed several strategies that include film screenings schools as well as encouraging to get tested for HIV,” said Kabai.

YPNSRHHA is an arm of the National Aids Council of Zimbabwe (NACZ). NACZ Marondera District Aids Coordinator (DAC) Sebastian Manjengwa confirmed the rampant child prostitution activities in Marondera.

“Marondera Districts has the highest prevalence rate in the whole Mashonaland East Province,” said Manjengwa.

According to Manjengwa HIV prevalence rate in Marondera for the year 2014 is 16% with those aged between 15 and 24 constituting 9.5%. Of the 7798 youths between 15 and 24 tested for HIV last year 746 of them tested positive.

The new constitution advocates for the safeguarding of the girl child’s rights but lack of implementation by the government and other stakeholders is the hindering factor.

With the tobacco selling season now on, the number of child prostitutes is set to increase as they will be preying on tobacco farmers who will be spending their hard earned money.