5.2 Findings on content – Silence and HIV/AIDS
5.2.7 Sex work
The audience reacted strongly to Scene 6 and one member was disgusted by the shop owner who, instead of helping the widow, took advantage of her. An audience member whispered to another woman sitting next to her “Hee!! Jehovah hee bophelo bo thata ntate!” (hee, Jesus!! life is tough.) Hee is a Sesotho expression of pity and sympathy.
During the informal conversations that I had with some members of the audience when the play was over, they raised a point that the pandemic has left many children orphaned.
Sometimes these children do not have money to survive and the girl has no option but to work on the streets. They gave an example of the young girls who sell themselves at Kingsway Road in Maseru, stating that some of those girls are orphans while others are falling into prostitution to obtain money so that they can have the right accessories. One respondent noted that
What makes this whole thing painful is that sometimes the extended family knows but because even they sometimes have financial constraints they turn a blind eye and like always our government is not doing anything. (Informal conversation, 6th July 2006)
The reason why the extended family turns a blind eye to this is because the orphans are supporting themselves and as a result they do not become a burden to the extended family that is taking care of them.
One of the interviewees stated that she knew someone who was a sex worker and when the sex worker died she realised that the family knew, but because she was helping the family by giving them money, they said nothing and pretended that they did not know that she was a sex worker. While she was still alive, no one bothered to talk to her about what she was doing to herself, tried to help her find a decent job, or even refused the money that she was giving to them because they do not approve of her profession. The interviewee stated that
You know my child we Basotho are a very selfish nation. Whenever something is going
to be beneficial to us, even if it is wrong, we just keep quiet otherwise we would rather talk about it by saying what was she supposed to do? Or what would you have done if you were in her shoes? (6th July 2006)
During the workshop discussions, most people echoed the above point and shared a number of stories of people they knew. This statement shows that sometimes when people are aware of unacceptable behaviour, they would rather give excuses as to why people are doing what they are doing than reprimand them. Excuse-making is yet another form of silence.
In the Workshop discussions, most people were of the view that sex work is becoming a big problem. One of the respondents remarked,
We have teenage girls who will do anything just to have the latest accessories so that they can ‘fit’ and nobody is saying anything. Everyone sees what is happening but they do not see. Someone has to do something. (Workshop Discussion , 7th July 2006)
In Malealea the villagers noted that there is a great deal of sex work going on. This is especially common in the case of older women who will go to the shebeens to wait for tour guides who buy them beer in exchange for sex.
During the post-performance discussions a young adult asked if sex work will ever decrease. She noted that when she is talking about sex work she is not talking about young girls who solicit clientèle on the streets but people who actually give sexual favours in exchange for money and material goods. She gave the example of the young girl in the scene who slept with the professor so that she could get marks she did not deserve, and the unemployed graduate student who had a sugar daddy. She stated that
Maybe people should stop blaming the government for things that they themselves can fix. What do you say as a parent when your child who is unemployed comes home with groceries and how do you feel as a student when you sleep with a teacher just so you can get marks? (Post-performance discussion, 11th July 2006)
What was interesting about this remark was that it was made by a young person during the post-performance discussions, and she was the only young person who spoke. She notes that people need to acknowledge the part they play in society and elder people should stop blaming young people, because they are also to blame as they let these things happen right under their nose by not saying anything simply because they are getting something out of it.
While the government is not doing much about sex work, people need to acknowledge that there are different reasons why people end up prostituting themselves. Some teenagers (or women) are engaged in sex work due to the culture of consumerism which pressurises them to have the latest accessories to fit or belong. The majority of the girls (or women) who are sex workers are in the industry due to poverty and desperation, however, and the money they earn they take back to their families.
Occasionally the family is aware of what is happening but because they are also benefiting, they keep quiet, as has been stated by one of the respondents. Thus it can be observed that this is yet another form of silence that prevails – one born out of exploitation. As much as stopping the spread of HIV/AIDS is dependent on breaking the silence which clouds the pandemic, what is also evident from this research is that stopping the spread of HIV/AIDS is not just about individual accountability but it is also about social accountability: society acknowledging the part it plays and taking responsibility for it.
This chapter has presented the research findings and the analysis. The following chapter draws the conclusions to the study.