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HIV and Prostitution
The story about the need to bring about laws barring prostitution (The Nation, of October 27, 2006) gives real food for thought. The premise on which the arguments by the Malawi Council of Churches (MCC) and the Public Affairs Committee (PAC) are constructed is to an extent a solid one.
There is also a general consensus that prostitution and ‘promiscuity’ are immoral. However, it is important to understand prostitution in its social and cultural contexts if at all solutions are to be found, particularly in relation to HIV and Aids.
Noteworthy, prostitution does not exist in a vacuum: it flourishes in the earthly garden of promiscuity, where men and women, boys and girls are involved, and not many people can stand a moral high ground on this. So much so that suggestions for legal controls against prostitution somehow make sense.
The unfortunate thing however is that whenever people suggest tough laws against this vice in our society, they always take an isolationist view - only looking at one-side of the coin that prostitutes are the wrong-doers. Yet, from Bwandilo in Lilongwe to the famous Lunzu in Blantyre many men and boys, covered by the veil of night, actively participate in the circus of promiscuity under the guise of drinking.
Indeed, men (more than women) linger at bars, night clubs, inns, bottle-stores in the acrobatics of ‘enjoying’ themselves, while their innocent wives faithfully keep their vows in the marital home, traumatised by the fear of being infected with HIV by their partners. Of course, not everyone engages in these lurid acts, but it is common knowledge that these places are convergence zones for promiscuity. It is here that men from all walks of life succumb to the pleasures of Mother Earth, thus: HIV and Aids experts, doctors, law makers and enforcers, managers, businessmen and even clergymen.
The question is: what is the difference between a prostitute and a man who changes sexual partners almost every sunrise and sunset? It is important to note that barring prostitution is not the only answer to the current problem. The men who solicit sex will be more than ready to drive their ‘hunting game’ into the back streets, the forests or under the office desk. Clearly, we should not only accuse prostitutes but also blame the ‘hungry’ men whose hearts beat at the sight of each and every girl and woman that passes-by. This is not at all to justify prostitution, but to put it in its right perspective.
The core issue with promiscuity and prostitution is that they are socially and culturally constructed through attitudes, perceptions and beliefs about sex and that it is through the same medium that they can be adequately addressed. Can anyone say that baby-girls and under-aged girls who are raped almost on a daily basis in our country are prostitutes? A death sentence is passed to the young girls who contract HIV yet, many don’t see it as a big problem.
In fact, promiscuity is widespread beyond bars: the practice roams wild in residential areas, churches, offices, at seminars and work-shops, during business safaris, and field-work. And there are other dimensions too: we are all aware of stories about some men who use their professions and authority to sexually abuse women in the work-place or peg sex to service provision favours.
Obviously, all this involves men and women. But, is it possible for any laws barring prostitution to encompass ‘promiscuity’ by having a proviso to guard all Malawians against promiscuity in the country and abroad? The hard truth is that increased mobility of people today is partly to blame for high HIV infection rates in many countries. Compounding it is the failure to abstain, or at least adopt protective ways such as the use of condoms.
Girls and women engage in prostitution because of poverty, the quest to lead superfluous life and some just find leisure in it, hence rehabilitation and economic empowerment is needed. But what about men? The solution to HIV and Aids goes beyond barring prostitution, to also addressing the perceptions and beliefs which surround sexual life through making people: men and women - boys and girls to value themselves and others, and be able to make right decisions affecting their sexual lives.
This is where religion needs to play a role by instilling morals. The problem is that we have failed to handle ourselves in the process of dealing with the challenges posed by the contemporary world where our social and cultural institutions have been greatly overwhelmed. But having said that our society needs to really open up: the lack of frank and open discourse about sexual life amongst people/couples is what also leads to promiscuity.
—The author is a Research Fellow, Conflict, Peace and Security, University of London (UK).
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