Picture taken from chronicle.co.zw |
Forty percent of young people in Zimbabwe started selling
sex before the age of 18, it has been revealed.
According to The Aids Fonds – Stepping Stones, Sexual Rights
Centre (SRC), a Bulawayo based organisation, conducted a needs assessment among young people selling sex.
The findings stress the importance of recognised minors and young people selling sex as a reality that requires a pragmatic response to ensure protection of their SRH rights, as well as their human rights
The Aids Fonds – Stepping Stones project is funded by the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands is being implemented in 18
countries across Latin America, the Middle East, Africa and Asia. Community based organisations conducted needs assessments in
Botswana, Egypt, Ethiopia and Zimbabwe. The research entailed in-depth
interviews (Unstructured and semi-structured), a section of survey and focus
group discussions in 12 countries, with 635 participants between 14-28 years of
age.
Topics included needs, desires and obstacles in daily life;
the context of selling sex; experiences with violence; knowledge of their; ways
of generating income; and access to health services.
“Poverty, escaping a restrictive home environment and peer
pressure to upgrade lifestyle, None of the participants consider themselves
forced to sell sex by others.”
The human rights of minors and young people selling sex are
often violated by the police as 51 percent are not aware of having legal
rights.
“All participants started to have exchanged sexual favours
with the police to avoid arrest. The police rarely file reports of violence
against young people selling sex.”
Stigma and discrimination by health professionals often
hampers young people selling sex to access sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR)
services.
“Sixty-seven percent experience stigma and discrimination
because they sell sex. They prefer to visit traditional healers instead of
qualified health professionals.”
Recommendations from findings included: “Creation of support
and referrals systems for minors and young people selling sex. There is need to
sensitise health professionals and police to reduce stigma and harassment of
minors and young people selling sex.”
Minors and young people who sell sex are one of the most
marginalised and vulnerable groups in society. When community organisations
encounter minors working on the streets and in brothels, they face a difficult:
how to work with them without risking being seen as encouraging them into the
sex industry? As a result, young people and minors selling sex are often
ignored in sexual and reproductive health, HIV and human rights interventions,
despite their vulnerability.
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