JENDA: A JOURNAL OF CULTURE AND AFRICAN WOMEN STUDIES
ISSN: 1530-5686
Issue 8 (2006)
| JENDA: A JOURNAL OF CULTURE AND AFRICAN WOMEN STUDIES ISSN: 1530-5686 Issue 8 (2006) |
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CHILDHOOD ON THE MARKET: TEENAGE PROSTITUTION IN SOUTHERN AFRICA |
First published in African Security Review Vol 10 No 4, 2001
Child prostitution is not exclusively a form of child abuse. It is increasingly a form of labour performed for income and often survival. Many young women turn to prostitution as a means of supporting themselves and their families financially. Some girls already have low-paying jobs but work as prostitutes because of the higher income it provides. The growth of child prostitution in Southern Africa is due largely to poverty, unequal gender relationships, a breakdown of family structures, limited access to education by young girls and sexual abuse. This paper discusses the results of a quick exploratory survey conducted in Mozambique which focused on the incidence of child prostitution and the awareness and attitudes towards HIV/AIDS. An appendix gives details of selected interviews conducted in Beira, Mozambique.
Child prostitution is a growing phenomenon in Southern Africa. The reasons for this are multiple, but they include chronic family poverty owing to a lack of employment for adults and young persons; a breakdown in family support mechanisms; migration; gender inequality; and the impact of HIV/AIDS. Another contributory cause is the inadequacy of the education systems in Southern Africa, which provide quality schooling for only a limited number of children.
Although these causes will be discussed in greater detail in the course of this paper, one of them deserves particular attention due to the urgency and magnitude of the problem. The escalating number of people affected by HIV/AIDS in Southern Africa seems to be a major reason for the increase in child labour in general, and child prostitution in particular.
Child prostitution is often dealt with exclusively as a form of child abuse This paper will dismantle this notion by demonstrating that child prostitution is both an abuse and a form of work, carried out by children in order to satisfy their needs. Whether these needs are to ensure their own—and frequently their families’—survival, or to meet other needs, is irrelevant. This phenomenon raises questions regarding legislation, including the labour legislation of most countries (in which prostitution is not recognised as a form of labour), and penal legislation (which usually criminalises prostitution).
What also needs to be looked at is the child’s own power to make decisions: that is to take responsibility for his or her actions. The notion of the child’s decision to become a prostitute is in no way used to blame or criminalise the child, but to illustrate that the child—usually in order to survive or improve living conditions—makes a conscious choice to earn money by selling sexual favours. This decision may, however, be driven by a lack of alternative opportunities.
This paper will also draw attention to the clients and their behaviour, demonstrating that an improvement in client awareness, leading to a change in behaviour, could lead to a decreased demand for the services of child prostitutes. This could play an important part not only in diminishing the extent of child prostitution, but in slowing the spread of HIV infection.
It is not the intention of the author to deal with the issue of prostitution or child prostitution in a moralistic way. The author has noticed, while working in several countries in Southern Africa, that even representatives from women’s and children’s organisations often believe that the children, usually girls, are to blame for ‘immoral’ behaviour. However, a different approach yields another interpretation that is more appreciative of the situation of these girls. Most of them are forced to earn money without ever having had the benefit of the kind of education that would allow them to get a job guaranteeing cash income. As in most parts of the world, raising a girl in Southern Africa still means to prepare her for being a good wife and mother. Thus, girls are taught to manage a household, to help raise their smaller siblings, and above all to please men. Consequently, for girls without any professional training (particularly when they live in an urban context), prostitution is a means to earn a cash income.
A Rapid Assessment (RA) into the situation of child labour was carried out in Mozambique by UNICEF and representatives of the Ministry of Labour in 1999–20001.[1] Its aim was to obtain qualitative information on the causes, conditions and consequences of child labour in Mozambique. This was done to determine whether there was a need for intervention and, if so, what kind would be required. In the course of several national and provincial preparatory meetings, those participating in the RA identified child prostitution as one area of child labour that needed to be investigated.
Since prostitution is not recognised as work according to Mozambican legislation, child prostitutes are technically not considered to be workers. Furthermore, prostitution is illegal in Mozambique, as in most other countries. Despite these considerations, those researching child labour in Mozambique decided to include child prostitution as one of the key occupations to be investigated.
Preliminary discussions evolved around the terminology of child abuse, commercial sexual exploitation, child sex workers and child prostitution. In Mozambique, stakeholders from government, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), unions and employers agreed not to use the term ‘sex workers’, partly because of the legislation referred to above.
As the following common definitions for child prostitution show, in most cases reference is made to the exploitative character of the phenomenon. There are various definitions used for the work of child prostitutes:
Allied to the definitions of child prostitutes are the definitions of sexual abuse:
However, as the research findings show, it is mainly structural violence in the form of absolute poverty, which leads to a need to generate income in a relatively quick way, which causes children to prostitute themselves.
The results of the research do not enable one to determine the magnitude of child prostitution in Mozambique. Sampling was done in a purposive way, and only one region was considered in depth. The information gathered was analysed with a view to obtaining a general picture of the situation of those children who had been interviewed, and covered child labour in general. The interviewers often received little information from and about children who earned money in exchange for sexual favours. Obviously, this is a sensitive area, and therefore not one in which information is freely offered.
Subsequently, a team that included trained sociologists who had been working with girls at risk or on HIV/AIDS education for several years, carried out in-depth interviews in Beira and the Beira Corridor, which is one of Mozambique’s main transit roads and the economic link between Zimbabwe and Mozambique. (Beira is Mozambique’s second-biggest town and an important harbour.) The area is part of the so-called ‘central region’, and is notorious for the country’s highest HIV/AIDS prevalence, which is attributable to the heavy traffic through this region.
Most of the empirical information in this paper is based on the results of both the RA and of investigations carried out in Maputo City and Maputo Province by experts from the Ministry of Welfare, street educators and other researchers.[3]
Preliminary information about child prostitution indicates that 98% of the children involved in offering sexual services are female: of these, 26% are between 10–14 years of age. Only 14.1% attend school. Of the others, 69% have dropped out, owing to a lack of financial means to remain at school. Only 12% of these children had reached second grade in primary school, while 7.4% attended secondary school.
The study reveals that, when asked about their first sexual encounter, 22% of the children interviewed said they had been sexually abused. Of these the majority had been abused by members of the family (father, brother-in-law, stepfather, and so on), by neighbours or by people at school. Of the children who had been initiated into sexual relations through rape, 39.9% of them were under 15 years at the time.
When asked about what they did with the money they earned from prostitution, 46% of the children said they used the money to buy clothes and shoes. Thirty-seven per cent said the money was used for buying food for themselves and their families. Ninety-one percent of the children had some knowledge of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), and 48% had already contracted one, usually gonorrhoea.
Many of the children interviewed took an optimistic view of their futures: some hoped to continue studying and to eventually have a profession and a house. Only 14% failed to express any hopes for their future lives.
Most of the girls involved in prostitution in Mozambique are around 15 to 16 years old, although girls as young as 12 were interviewed. In Mozambique’s capital it is also common to see girls of about 12 standing along the popular, up-market streets.
What emerged as a significant feature was that many of the girls live under difficult circumstances. Most of them also work during the day, either domestically or in subsistence agriculture, for their own families or for employers. Others work at the market, in small shops or as hawkers. At night, they earn additional and better income by charging money for sexual favours. Some of the girls give up their day work because they can earn more from prostitution.
One girl from Nhamatanda, a small town in the Beira Corridor, Sofala Province, said that before working as a prostitute, she was employed for two years as a domestic worker to help pay expenses at home. After two years, she stopped working to look after her sick mother. With no money for food or to buy medicine for her mother, she began selling peanuts in bars and kiosks. While she was selling peanuts, men propositioned her. She agreed, because she earned much more offering sex than she did from selling peanuts. In a single night she sometimes had two or three clients and earned $6 to $9. She could then spend the next two or three days without working at night, because she had enough money for her needs.
Another girl’s account of the reasons she became a child prostitute was as follows:
“She began to work very young, when she was 12, as a domestic servant. She worked for three years and then left, because she did not receive her wages in cash, but in kind (clothes and food). Later she found a new job as an itinerant vendor selling cakes and earned 100.000Mt a month. She abandoned this job because her boyfriend didn’t want her to work on the streets. When she became pregnant, he did not want to take responsibility and ran away. To this day she does not know where he is.”
One 13 year-old girl was found at the Goto market stalls accompanied by her 15 year-old sister. In addition to working as prostitutes at night, the girls sold flour in the market during the day. Another 13 year-old girl began working when she was 10, as a produce vendor by day and as a prostitute at night. She worked seven days a week and did not have enough time to rest. She also had to do domestic chores: look after her younger brothers, sweep the house, cook and sometimes help her mother in the field.
By and large, working girls are prone to suffer abuse of all kinds. Even though information about sexual abuse and harassment is difficult to obtain, there is sufficient evidence to show that girls who work as hawkers and as domestic workers are particularly exposed to, and suffer from, sexual abuse. For some, these experiences seem to motivate their becoming involved in prostitution—charging money for what they are otherwise forced to do, owing to the circumstances under which they live.
The girls earn little, between $1 and $4.50, with an average of $2.50 per client. Prices vary and are higher for intercourse without a condom than with one. One girl stated clearly that she uses condoms only occasionally, depending on the client. She said there are clients who do not want to use condoms. When this happens, she accepts it, but the agreed price goes up. The opportunity to increase earnings, combined with ignorance about STDs and HIV/AIDS, causes many girls to agree to unprotected sex.
The consequences of the HIV/AIDS pandemic are beginning to be felt in Mozambique. The Mozambique National Institute of Statistics (INE) estimates that out of a population of 17 million, 1 546 643 people are living with HIV/AIDS. HIV prevalence is currently 12% among the 15–49 year-old age group. The central region of the country has the highest incidence of HIV infection: one in every five of the 15–49 age group is believed to be HIV positive. According to the INE, over 600 000 children have been orphaned as a result of HIV/AIDS. By the end of 2005, as many as one million children will have lost one or both parents to AIDS.
Young people are increasingly at risk of infection. Of the estimated 600 people who are infected every day in the country, 40% are under 24 years of age. Girls and young women are especially vulnerable for a number of reasons. These include biological factors, sexual exploitation, older men supporting younger girls in exchange for sexual favours (‘sugar daddies’), women’s lack of power when negotiating condom use and their lack of control over when, how and where sexual relations take place.[4] More especially their vulnerability stems from the lack of, or inadequate, sex education, in particular information about HIV/AIDS.
Another socially significant consequence of the high HIV/AIDS rates (which inevitably lead to illness and deaths within families) is that girls are often forced to leave school to take care of family members. The illness and death of parents and the need to support younger siblings often drives girls into exploitative forms of labour like prostitution. This exposes them to contracting the disease—thereby accelerating the spiral of cause and effect.
Tradition plays a significant role in preventing HIV/AIDS awareness, especially in rural areas. Preconceived notions about HIV/AIDS make objective interviewing and reporting very difficult. For example, one interviewer for the RA described a community selected for research as one where “traditionally people respect the culture and experiences left by their ancestors. There are therefore no risks of contracting sexually transmitted disease or even HIV/AIDS. Sick people are cured through traditional treatment”.
Many children do not know about HIV/AIDS, or were uncomfortable discussing it. However, a report from the Ministry of Women and Co-ordination of Social Action noted that 91% of child prostitutes in Maputo City and Maputo Province had some knowledge of STDs. Some 48% of girls had already contracted gonorrhoea or other STDs. When asked if she feared STDs or AIDS, an 11 year-old stated she was very scared of AIDS because it has no cure and she had seen many people die from it. However, she did not fear STDs because she had already been treated several times and had been cured.
“She said she usually looks closely at people first, but that her prices vary from $2.50 with a condom to $3.50 without a condom, because it makes her dirty and she has to buy soap to wash. In general, she charges $3.50 because many men do not use condoms.”
Another girl said that as for STDs, “diseases are the fate that God gives people. If I catch AIDS, it will be because that is what God wants”. She went on to say that if she did not prostitute herself, she would die of hunger: “it is preferable to die of disease rather [than] of starvation”.
These statements show the severity of the girls’ situations and how the risks of contracting STDs and even HIV/AIDS through unprotected sex are outweighed by the struggle to survive. As sex without condoms is more lucrative, often the difference between being paid $1.50 and $6.00 per client, a third of girls never use condoms, while another third let the client decide. Only five per cent of girls interviewed said they always use a condom. One child said that she does not demand that her clients use condoms because she wants the money, so she “lets them do what they want.”
Several of the girls explicitly stated that they were treated badly by their clients. Girls are assaulted, insulted and beaten, especially when they insist on payment.
Many of the girls’ clients seem to be truck drivers: “I work as a prostitute, when there is a lot of movement of truck drivers, usually from Thursday to Sunday. During the day I sell goods at the market.”
Older men from the same communities as the girls form part of their clientele. The girls say they prefer more mature and married men, since they have more money and usually pay them. However, the fact that older men have been sexually active for longer than younger men, and have thus been more exposed to HIV infection, means that these clients pose a greater risk for young girls.
The reasons why children work as prostitutes and why adults seek sexual favours from them, are multiple and interdependent. From information gathered during interviews with children in Mozambique, the following reasons seem most prevalent.
Almost all the girls interviewed mentioned poverty, lack of financial support from their parents and the need to eat and clothe themselves as reasons for getting involved in prostitution. Thus, in many ways, in addition to mere sexual exploitation, the children’s poverty is exploited. Another way in which child prostitutes are victimised is their social exclusion and stigmatisation.
Even though there are also boys who prostitute themselves, prostitution in Mozambique still seems to be a mainly female domain, where the feminisation of poverty becomes most cruelly evident.
Most girls become prostitutes to seek better living conditions and—due to their desperate situation and/or lack of information—do not care about the consequences, which can include contracting STDs and HIV through unprotected sex. Sex without condoms is not only more lucrative but is imposed on them due to their lack of power to negotiate the use of condoms.
Another factor is their ignorance, or in most cases ‘half knowledge’, about HIV/AIDS. In several cases, this is accompanied by an almost indifferent attitude towards their own lives and future prospects.
The subordination of women in a society dominated and controlled by males, and the unequal gender relations embodied in traditional practices are also determining factors.
Bagnol depicts cultural stereotypes that suggest it is important for men to have frequent sex with different partners, and that sex is not important for women. What is important for a woman, however, is that she be provided for. This can be attained by having sex with one or many men, which can lead to prostitution.
Child prostitution is also caused by changes from traditional values to those of a contemporary society. The consequences of rural to urban migration, and the subsequent reorientation of lifestyle can have far-reaching effects, most notably on the structure of the family.
In the course of many interviews, the event in the personal histories of children that caused them to take up sex work was the death of a father or mother, or the separation of the parents. Girls often suffer when the remaining parent (whether father or mother) remarries and they are badly treated by a stepparent. Stories of girls being beaten by their stepmothers or stepfathers are common. Several girls mentioned that they were also subjected to sexual abuse, which drove them to early marriages or prostitution. Alcoholism in adult family members, accompanied by abuse, is another problem many girls have to face.
As outlined under ‘causes of child prostitution’ in a report published by Terre des Hommes,[6] instability in the life of a family (often caused by poverty) could be a contributory factor to both prostitution and exploitative labour for children. According to one girl:
“She began to work when she was 11, when she lost her mother. She works on her own account, to support her brothers. She also said that her clients pay 25,000 Mt with a condom and 45,000–50,000 Mt without a condom. She meets up with many other children in her workplace. She works every night so that she can give her brothers a meal the following day. She was obliged to do this work because when her mother died, her father found himself another woman.”
Most of the girls interviewed live in female-headed households, or with their brothers, sisters, uncles or stepmothers. Only five of the girls said that they still had both their parents living. Of these, only one family had income from both parents.
Another girl said that her mother’s death and her father’s second marriage had led her to her current situation. She was unhappy about being a prostitute, but believed she had no choice. The advantage of prostitution was that she had some money. The disadvantages were that she had no time to rest and was not respected by her neighbours.
One of the girls reported that her father had died when she was very young, and that her mother had been sick for a long time, suffering from never-ending headaches and stomach pains. She had suffered from “evil spirits” and eventually died. The girl had only one sibling, her elder brother, who was her guardian. Her sister-in-law always insulted her and she therefore preferred to spend most of the day away from the house.
Even in closely-knit families, the lack of social support and the exigencies of poverty drive girls towards prostitution:
“Because of all these problems, their poverty worsened and her mother, in an attempt to escape from the hunger they were suffering, began to resell vegetables and fruits at the market. She and her younger brother continued studying, because their father was paying for their schooling. Her elder brother had to leave the house because he no longer had a good relationship with their father. When she was 12 years old, her father fell ill. Nobody knew what was wrong, but he was ill for six months and then died. A month later her mother also fell ill and was sick for almost a year. This was the time of greatest suffering in this girl’s life. She had to leave school to look after her mother. Her elder sister had to start selling in the market, to raise some money for their food and to buy medicine for their mother. Even so, this was not working. The brother who had left home returned to try and provide some help. Every night they sat around the fire to see if they could find a solution. They wept, but no one helped them, because the rest of the family was in Mafambisse. Days later her mother died and they were alone in a town they did not know well. Their house belonged to the government and they were given a month to leave. Faced with this situation, the girl felt she had no way out. That is why she has been doing this work since last year and feels no shame about it, because everybody knows her situation. If anyone appears and wants her services, even me, she does not hesitate. With a condom it’s 30,000 Mt and without a condom it’s 50,000 Mt. What she wants is money. Nothing else in life interests her. Some time ago she was afraid of sexually transmitted diseases. But not any more, since she has already caught them three times. She does not know whether she has AIDS.”
Alternatively, a family can indirectly encourage a girl to take up sex work, to contribute to the household income:
“One day they all went out and spent two days without coming home. She was alone in the house and had nothing to eat. She was also afraid of going to ask the neighbours for food. A servant working for one of the neighbours passed by and she asked him to lend her money, telling him that when her mother came back, she would repay him. He then said that he wanted the girl and would give her the money without any need for repayment. Since she wanted the money and thought that it was nothing, she agreed. She went to bed with him, but felt a lot of pain and screamed. The neighbours came, but he had run away. Then her mother advised her that, when her mother and sisters went out, she too should go out and begin to earn a living, because she was now grown up. From that night up until now, the girl had no fear of any man, old or young.”
In the last decade, almost half of Mozambique’s 3,200 primary schools have been destroyed. Despite a female literacy rate of 22%, over 50% of school-aged children do not have the opportunity to study. Fewer girls than boys enrol at school, and girls are more likely to drop out. For those who have the opportunity to go to school, conditions are basic and learning materials are in short supply. Many pupils have to travel long distances to get to the schools, which are overcrowded and under-equipped. Also, poverty and the need to contribute to the family’s income often cause children to leave school to go to work instead.
Because of their limited educational opportunities, many girls realise that their chances of obtaining good jobs are poor. Informal education and recreational opportunities are basically non-existent. All of these contribute to a lack of optimism with regard to the future.
Although research from various countries shows that many girls who later become involved in sex work were sexually abused or raped by either an employer, father, stepfather, ‘uncle’ or boys from the neighbourhood, little evidence for this was found in the interviews carried out in the Beira Corridor. However, the Terre des Hommes report highlights that “[ . . . ] divorces and second marriages augment sexual abuse, as much as conflicts in the family can make children leave their homes and live on the streets” (Ibid, p 18).
On the subject of violent abuse by clients, one of the girls reported that clients sometimes did not pay for services, or would harass, insult or beat her. However, she also said she was accustomed to her life as a prostitute, and that it enabled her to survive.
Use of children as ‘attractions’ by owners and managers of bars, discotheques and restaurants
The owners of various discos and bars in Beira and along the Corridor, where there is a high occurrence of child prostitutes, use the children to attract customers. Some places also rent rooms. Condoms are advertised and sold in some places. A law restricting access of minors to nightclubs and bars[7] was enacted in 1999. However, the legislation has not yet been implemented successfully.
Many girls testify to facing problems from either their parents, their peers or members of the community because of the work they are doing. The social alienation can occur before the girls take up sex work. It is evident that the stigmatisation of the child who is vulnerable and at risk of getting involved in prostitution, can be a factor in driving her towards prostitution.
(From the research and according to professionals working with girls, the term ‘at risk’ applies to girls who have different sexual partners because they get presents, clothes or simply food and drink from them.)
The community responds to child prostitution in a generally negative way, often rejecting the children, which leads to their further isolation. One informant said that “the community does not respond to this and thus assists in the proliferation of child prostitution.”
“The community is condemning this behaviour but the cost of living obliges the girls to stay involved in this activity and the community does not know how to respond to this problem. It is necessary to promote awareness at district level for the families about the dangers of this activity and to create drop-in centres and schools to assist the girls.”
The rehabilitation and reintegration of such a child into the community is difficult.
As outlined above, child prostitution is often viewed as a moral issue, rather than a societal phenomenon. Several interviewees were of the opinion that the children do this job out of a whim and because of peer pressure. However, throughout the RA report, adults interviewed said they recognised that children prostitute themselves because of poverty and a need to support themselves or their families. Others stated that many of the girls were orphans who had to fend for themselves, or that the girls had few opportunities to undertake other work. Almost all interviewees said that the girls were in danger of contracting diseases, many specifying the risk of STDs and HIV/AIDS. Unwanted pregnancies, abortions, thefts and rape were other dangers enumerated by the interviewees.
Taking into consideration the HIV/AIDS pandemic and the growing number of AIDS orphans in the whole of Southern Africa, it has to be pointed out that child prostitution is not confined to Mozambique, but is widespread in the region. Kenya, Zambia and Zimbabwe have been confronted with, and have been fighting against, this phenomenon for many years. In 1996, at a preparatory meeting for the First World Congress on Commercial Sexual Exploitation in Stockholm, several Southern African countries reported an increase in the number of girls who have to support themselves and their families through prostitution. The main reasons cited for this were poverty, family break-up, the rising numbers of HIV/AIDS orphans, and ignorance of the disease and its consequences.[8]
The situation is aggravated by incidents where children are bought and sold for the purpose of sexual exploitation. In South Africa, evidence shows that along with cross-border trade in children, there is a growing percentage of children trafficked for sex being moved from poor to wealthy urban parts of the country.[9]
A recent UNICEF publication[10]– based on research carried out into the situation of child workers as linked to HIV/AIDS in six countries in Eastern and Southern Africa – points out that more children are working outside their homes, in the streets or in their employers’ houses because of the effects of AIDS on their families. These children are more vulnerable to infection, since they are exposed to all forms of abuse, including sexual abuse. They are also more likely to start earning money through prostitution.
Measures to combat child prostitution include the fight against HIV/AIDS and attempts to increase public awareness of the disease and of the particular vulnerability of teenage girls to infection. Other measures include the promotion of gender equality in all aspects of society, including the provision of quality education for children, with a special focus on the integration of girls. The most important and far-reaching measure would be a reduction in poverty levels throughout the region.
The Second World Congress on Commercial Sexual Exploitation is to take place in December 2001. The Congress will provide an opportunity for delegates to exchange experiences regarding the success of the action plans designed after the first World Congress. These are aimed at the prevention, protection and rehabilitation of children suffering from commercial sexual exploitation. It is hoped that the lessons learned will provide incentives for more effective action in the future.
Selected interviews with girls in Beira.[11]
Rosa is 14 years old. She lives in Beira with her family: her father, stepmother and two younger siblings, a brother and one sister. Rosa’s biological mother and another sister, who was already married, died in 1998. Her mother died from strong diarrhoea and was hospitalised for a long time (not specified how long). Rosa says she has serious problems with her stepmother; apparently she beats her for little mistakes.
The day we talked with her, Rosa had left her house to move in with a friend because she “couldn’t fight any more”. Her intention was to go and live with her older sister, who is a street vendor and has a house of her own, which she shares with her husband.
Rosa gets up in the morning and helps in the house. She does the washing up, fetches water and cooks for the family. Later she sells oranges and other fruits in front of the house.
Rosa is enrolled in the fourth grade and can barely read and write; she attends the school irregularly. She wants to continue studying, but she seems to be inconsistent in her arguments. The problem doesn’t seem to be economic but domestic. She mentioned long, violent arguments at home. She hardly talked about the father figure but expressed “saudades da sua mae”. She often weeps when she remembers her mother. In the course of our interview we had to stop when this subject was raised; she seemed to be deeply affected.
Once at school, she was approached by some guys who said they wanted to sleep with her. She chose one, under the condition that he would buy nice clothes and other things for her. Manuel has since become what she considers “o seu namorado”. He is about 17. Rosa also found other friends, “amigos” as she puts it. At the moment she has two more partners apart from Manuel. She usually does not use a condom in her encounters with these guys. She told us that once she had talked about condoms with Manuel and since then he sometimes brings them along. She likes going dancing in several discos in the city and Manuel goes with her often. Among her plans for the future are travelling to Maputo, to work and live there.
Her attitude towards us was extremely shy at the beginning, particularly when we approached her in the group. At that stage she refused to answer any of the questions we posed. This changed over the course of our interview; she got more relaxed and eventually talked about intimate things.
Susanna is 16; she lives in Beira, in Novo Bairro, with her mother and six younger siblings. Her father died in 1998 from an illness she is not able to describe. Her mother is now very ill. She says she has lost a lot of weight (“a minha mae está muito magrinha”). Susanna feels responsible for the rest of the family. She seems to be very concerned about her mother’s health; she has to constantly take care of her because the mother is not self-sufficient any more. She needs a lot of money to pay for the visits to hospital and medicines that the mother needs. (She didn’t specify how much she needed to cover these expenses.)
Susanna seems to be under a great deal of pressure; her mother has told her that she is going to die soon and that she has to be responsible for the rest of the family. She usually sells bananas and kerosene during the day, which enables her to earn about 80,000Mt per month. This is not enough for all the costs she has to cover such as food, clothes for the family and her mother’s medical expenses. She is also responsible for the regular household tasks such as cleaning, fetching water, cooking and so on.
Earlier, Susanna worked as a domestic for another family, but she was poorly paid and decided to give up. She says she was well treated by her employers, but she seems to be aware that they took advantage of her situation.
On further enquiry as to how she manages to feed and take care of the family with so little money, Susanna explained that she earns extra money in exchange for sex with male friends. She has two regular clients and a few occasional ones. They give her money and small presents (clothes, shoes). She seldom uses condoms in her relations with these men. Apparently she meets with them three or four times a week, preferably in the evenings when she has finished her household work.
According to her, Susanna has never been seriously ill. She knows what AIDS is, and says she is careful, in which she contradicts her previous statement.
She studied till the 4th class but dropped out in 1995 because her family could not afford the fees and school materials. She is not interested in going back to school because she thinks it is already too late for that. Surprisingly enough, she states very firmly that she does not want to marry. Her hopes for the future entail having a life of her own and being able to support herself without a husband.
Her attitude with us was extremely open. She was eager to talk to us, and when she did so she seemed confident and self-assured. She gave the impression of being a mature girl and within the group, she held the position of leader.
Isabel is 16; she lives in Novo Bairro in Beira City, with her parents and five siblings. Her father works in a motor company and her mother works in the family’s machamba, where they cultivate rice. They live in a traditional house. She says she has no problems at home; she is well treated by her parents but she likes her mother best, and confides in her. She regularly helps in the home, knows how to cook pasta and fish, and takes responsibility for various household tasks.
Outside the home, she sells peanuts and bananas. The money she earns (quantity not specified) she gives to her parents. When she returns home from selling, she washes, cooks for the family and watches a soap opera (“novella”) at a neighbour’s house. Afterwards she goes to bed.
Isabel told us that she has friends. One of them works, and goes to meet her after work. He buys her clothes and shoes. He seems to be “the friend”, even if she explained later that he is not the only one with whom she has sexual relations in exchange for money. He wants to marry her, but she says she does not want to yet. She thinks she should return to school to study before she marries. She went to school till the 4th class, but did not pass that level because her teacher wanted money in exchange for a pass mark, but her parents could not afford to pay. She has asked her mother to pay the fees for a return to school, but her mother said she did not have the money.
During weekends Isabel goes to discos in the area of the Baixa in Beira City with her friend and others; there she dances and has soft drinks. Men tell her that she is beautiful. Although she used to refuse their offers, now she does not refuse any more. They give her 100,000–150,000 Mt per service. With the money she buys clothes and food. She tells her mother that it is her friend who gives her the money, and her mother is happy to believe her. This happens quite often, at least once or twice a weekend.
She told us she is very afraid of becoming pregnant because she seldom uses condoms; mainly when she is asked to do so. Her expectations are to marry at some time in the future, and to work as a vendor selling “things”. She says she would give the money she earns to her husband.
— Viktoria Perschler-Desai, previously worked as a project officer at the UNICEF Child Rights Protection Unit and now works as an independent consultant.
1. Rapid Assessment into child labour in Mozambique, 1999–2000; Ministry of Labour & UNICEF.
2. 1990–1994 United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Sale of Children Report.
3. A Implementacão da Convencão sobre os Diretos da Criança em Mocambique, 1990–1999, p 116.
4. According to INE, in 2001 the number of infected girls between 15–19 is 78 033, while the figures for girls between 20–24 are 187 708.
5. Appraisal of sexual abuse and commercial sexual exploitation of children in Maputo and Nampula, Brigitte Bagnol, Maputo, March 1997, Royal Netherlands Embassy, p 56.
6. Prostituicão, Abuso Sexual e Trabalho Infantil em Mozambique: o caso especifico das provincias de Maputo, Nampula e Tete; Joao Gabriel de Barros, Gulamo Taju, Maputo, Maio de 1999.
7. Lei 6/99, Lei que Restringe o Accesso de Menores a Clubes Nocturnos e Outros Locaís de Diversão Publica.
8. Legal protection from commercial sexual exploitation of children, Network Against Child Labour, South Africa, 1996.
9. The trafficking of children for purposes of sexual exploitation – South Africa, A report by Molo Songololo, Cape Town, South Africa, 2000.
10. Child workers in the shadow of AIDS, UNICEF Nairobi, Kenya, 2001.
11. The names of the girls quoted in the interviews are not their real names.
Citation Format:
Viktoria Perschler-Desai. “Childhood on the Market: Teenage Prostitution in Southern Africa” JENDA: A Journal of Culture and African Women Studies: Issue 8, 2006.
Copyright © 2006 Africa Resource Center, Inc.