MONEY, SURVIVAL AND HYGIENE PROSTITUTION IN CAMEROON

About the work

In Cameroon, prostitution is prohibited and even sanctionable as per the penal code. Considered to be the earliest trade on earth, the activity continues to spark several academic debates in relation to human rights. Yet survival remains a major factor for prostitutes in Cameroon. This work does not only point out some of the challenges created by the crisis in the Anglophone Regions, but also points out the menace of migration and prostitution in relation to health. The marginalization of those engage in this activity, allows them with little or no assistance in health facilities, when brutalized and even raped. This piece equally appeals for non-governmental organizations to engage in the rehabilitation of some youths (internally displaced persons), that engage in to this activity for survival, why not organize vocation programs, to educate them. Those that are educated can be recruited as cleaners or assist in charitable foundations

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Social media has had adverse effects on pornography due to the proliferation of social networking sites, which facilitate or are mostly exploited for indoor prostitution by both elders and youths from different platforms, which they easily secure through a comment and/or friend request followed by an exchange of contact and locations and sometimes putting a vehicle at the disposal of sex workers., These trending practices have expanded the pornography industry. According to statistics produced by the technology media company TechMedia Network, 12% of all websites are pornographic websites and every month around 72 million Internet users worldwide visit pornographic sites. For Orlando Health Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children, the average age of first exposure to Internet pornography is 11 years old.

The Cameroonian legislator as per article 343 of the Penal code criminalizes sex work. As per article 343 “(1) Any person of either sex who habitually engages, for compensation, in sexual acts with others, shall be punished with imprisonment for up to six months to five years and a fine of 20.000 (US$ 34.24) to 500.000 (US$ 856.11) francs. This work further reveals how the Anglophone crisis has led to massive displacements to other regions, there by exposing the new trade for survival of internal displaced persons in Yaoundé. It further reveals new patterns of prostitution, and the challenges in policing it.  It also profiles some of the problems prostitutes encounter, why and how they got in to prostitution, reasons why they cannot leave the milieu and above all recommends how the government can collaborate with non-governmental organizations to educate prostitutes on the effects of their activity on their health system, initiate vocational training programs for them and empower them economically or provide alternative modes of subsistence. 

In countries where prostitution is legalized, they help in criminal investigations, particularly in the crackdown of organized criminal syndicates. However, countries where the trade is criminalized, there is need to enact repressive policies that aim to protect prostituted women, punish male buyers or those who exploit women sexually, and develop integrative policies with the help of non-governmental organizations and civil society organizations for those that quit the activity.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Picking a coin, exchange of spiritual power, and love, summarize one of the earliest jobs in the world ‘Prostitution’. Challenges of drafting policies and academic discourse on the moral stance and legitimacy of prostitution has not in any way limited the practice around the world. The trade has taken a different dimension; pedophilia, homosexuality, lesbianism, bestiality and even boosted the movie industry (pornographic films).

 Prostitution simply refers to, payment for the exchange of sexual services (Benoit, Jansson, Smith, & Flagg, 2018; Zelizer, 2005), but its moral status, legitimacy, as well as policies proposed to deal with it remain challenging. There are several controversies about the people who engage in sexual services, about the ethics of sex and money, and its consequences. Problems prostitutes face is linked to political history; that is global capitalism, international migration, and gender issues within and across nations.

According to Constable (2009), the current generation is involved in an interconnection between prostitution, sex trafficking and sex slavery, due to capitalism, globalization of sex market and international migration. But Day (2010) argues that, contemporary moral panic and language used by prostitutes is not different from that used in the 1900s (p. 819).

Despite the quest for survival, and faced with ethics of given society. Nussbaum (1998) argues that, it is necessary to understand why prostitution is such a troubling topic for so many and we need to consider in what ways people who sell sexual services are similar and different than others who sell their bodies and emotions for pay in capitalist societies. She further out pinned that, prostitution is not much different from many other jobs like the opera singer, factory worker, nightclub singer, domestic servant, masseuse, and even university professor. The fact is that all involved prestation of services linked to one’s body in exchange for money, and historically doing so has been frowned upon.

More so, even in universities and other milieus, prostitution is alarming, just because those involved are not exposed on the streets or in motels as renowned escort ladies or men. As such the only difference between sex work and these other pursuits today is that the stigma of exchanging sex for money remains. However, it is necessary to rethink our beliefs and academic theories about prostitution. Some think it’s a job for the poor, but the “irrational” here is the presence of new actors in the game and even wealthy persons who engage for fame and sexual satisfaction.

Is prostitution a job description or not?

The debates on prostitution as a job or abuse brings to light the divide that exists among feminists in discussing prostitution. The concept of “sex work” that has been used by prostitutes, researchers and policy makers depicts “prostitution and other related activities in a less judgmental and more self-determining fashion” (Kempadoo, 2004:59).

According to Miller (2009) narrative of feminists’ views on prostitution as follows: sex radicals view prostitution as consensual sexual activities and are opposed to government interference (Rubin, 1984), liberal feminists view prostitution as a job or legitimate occupation (Jenness, 1993), radical feminists define prostitution as violence against women and a sign of patriarchy that can definitely not be viewed as work (Barry, 1995) while Marxists and Socialist feminists view prostitution as exploitation of women’s labor, especially under capitalism (Maher 1997).

Whether legitimate or illegal, prostitution should be recognized as sex work which originates from “two philosophical positions: a liberal model that views prostitution as a legitimate occupational choice within the service economy” without having regard to race, class, gender and other socioeconomic considerations, and “a critical structural economic perspective that suggests ‘women become involved in prostitution because of economic and structural barriers that prevent them from earning sufficient capital in both the licit and illicit economies’” (Miller, 2009:551).

Miller’s (2009:551), narrative about prostitution and other types of work, is supported by Troung’s (1990) comparism of sexual labor and other forms of labor (mental and manual) that people perform for survival, involving the use of different body parts.

Edlund and Korn (2002) in Della Giusta et al. (2008), argue that, sex work is “a highly paid low skill female occupation, an alternative to marriage, explaining high wages in terms of a loss in position in the marriage market” (2008:15) but Cameron (2002) argues that, the high remuneration is as a result of “compensation for exclusion, risk (assault, disease, arrest, punishment), front loading in wage profile (informal pension scheme or insurance), boredom or physical effort, distaste (potential psychological and physical costs), loss of recreational sex pleasure, anti-social and inconvenient hours, possible excess demand and prices used to screen quality, taboos, and agent fees.”

Prostitution requires emotional labor and tricks, in order to manage the client, by portraying a good facial expression and appearance” (Sander, 2004:281 referring to Hochschild, 1983:7). Lever and Dolnick (2010, 187) describe emotional labor as “when sex workers display or feign sexual arousal or sexual pleasure for their clients’ gratification”. Examples of emotional labor include screaming or moaning, sensual movement of the body and faking orgasm. This leads to extra payment by client be it male or female after the initial sexual experience, some even invite sex workers for events and pay air tickets to visit the client in their home country (Kempadoo, 2004; Kibicho, 2009).

Weitzer (2010) criticizes the positions of the abolitionists on one hand and those advocating sex work as work on the other, as one-dimensional and essentialist (Kelly, 2008:123). The scholar equally added that, “while exploitation and empowerment are certainly present in sex work, there is sufficient variation across time, place, and sector to demonstrate that sex work cannot be reduced to one or the other” (2010:6). There is “an alternative perspective, what [he] call[s] the polymorphous paradigm, [which] holds that there is a constellation of occupational arrangements, power relations, and worker experiences. Unlike the other two perspectives, polymorphism is sensitive to complexities and to the structural conditions shaping the uneven distribution of agency, subordination, and workers’ control” (2010:6).

Finckenauer and Chin’s findings are somewhat consistent with Weitzer’s position when they state that there are more participants in the commercial sex industry than sex trafficking victims, and that “a variety of women from diverse backgrounds in fact go overseas to engage in prostitution…there is more diversity among the parties involved in prostitution than is commonly supposed, and to portray them all in the same way as victims is an oversimplification” (2010:7).

Weitzer recommends, therefore, that “victimization, exploitation, choice, job satisfaction, self-esteem, and other dimensions should be treated as variables (not constants) that differ between types of sex work, geographical locations, and other structural and organizational conditions” (2010:6). It is necessary to relate Weitzer’s narrative on sexual workers in Yaoundé, by investigating these dimensions of prostitution; by looking specifically at the range of circumstances that shape sex workers’ experiences in this setting.

According to a piece submitted to UN High Commissioner for Human Rights titled “Rights and Issues of People involved in Prostitution and Sex Work in India” by SANGRAM and VAMP, sex worker’s rights generally fall into two categories. The first is the traditionally feminist perspective that assumes that all people involved in sex work have been coerced, bribed, blackmailed or forced into the trade. No woman could “choose” to be in sex work, and making money from sex thus becomes synonymous with sexual exploitation.

Following this perspective, the only approach to giving sex workers their rights is to “free” them from the trade. The other perspective is that sex work is legitimate business and should be treated as such. Viewing prostitution as business provides a basis for organizing to solve many of the problems associated with commercial sex work. No one can deny that sex work often involves poor health, financial exploitation and physical and sexual abuse. However, these abuses are not intrinsic to sex work, but rather the result of the stigmatization and marginalization of sex workers in the society. Approaching sex work from a business point of view allows women and men involved in the trade to demand their business rights, human rights and occupational health and safety regulations.

Causes of prostitution

The perception of prostitution is gradually changing in African countries, as even in state structures there exists commercialization of sex for position or power and money.  In recent times, several factors have emerged in relation to prostitution which are, but not limited to the following:

1. Housing and addiction

Young ladies mostly engage in prostitution because they are homeless or the person who disflowered them was a drug addict, who introduce them in to the consumption   and the sale of illicit substance and gained pleasure from having sex for money or needs for someone to satisfy their sexual desire (Spice, 2007; Davis, 2004). The above collaborates with a study into on-street sex workers in Bristol, by Jeal and Salisbury (2004), attributing such sex worker’s activity ‘survival sex’, where people engage in the quest for shelter, food or fund severe addictions in a ‘work-score-use’ cycle (McNaughton and Sanders, 2007; Sanders, 2007b)

• Family breakdown and ‘cut off care’

Divorced children under separate homes are prone to sex work. Several studies like that of Berelowitz et al., (2012), have exposed on the links between institutionalized care services, vulnerability and chronic exclusion, in relation to sex work and wider social exclusion. For example, Jeal and Salisbury (2004) in research on-street sex workers in Bristol revealed that, one third of the women they interviewed had been a ‘looked-after’ child and/or young person as a result of family breakdown. It further revealed that, nearly two-thirds of women had experienced physical, sexual or emotional abuse during childhood, whilst a third had left school by 14; those in care left earlier. Other scholars revealed that leaving care, prison, hospital, education and mental healthcare systems can lead to or exacerbate social exclusion (Tonybee hall, 2007; Fitzpatrick, Bramley and Johnsen, 2012).

Moreover, when family neglects or the care system is not available for adolescents, they turn to be vulnerable (Stein et al., 2009). An example of this type of neglect has been highlighted by the recent high-profile case in England of nine men in Oxford facing trial for various crimes relating to sexual violence and exploitation. In this case, young British girls were trafficked and prostituted by groups of men, the toddlers were vulnerable and came from chaotic households. They were coerced into sex work due to their vulnerable situations.

‘Cut off care’, the abrupt reduction or removal of institutional care systems and safety nets, can leave people vulnerable to exploitation from controllers and may result in engagement in sex work through necessity or habit.  In many cases, those who have been discharged (cut off) from a particular care system may experience a lack of money, housing, employment, social capital and appropriate networks of support, which can drive people into greater social exclusion and may lead to engagement in sex work as a survival technique and/or as a way out (McNaughton and Sanders, 2007).

• Low education

Illiteracy or inadequate education and training impacts on vulnerability; driving entrance into sex work and reducing the chances of finding alternative forms of employment. Jeal and Salisbury’s (2004), found out that, most adolescents, who quit school at the age of 14 years are prone to sex work. Bindel et al. (2012) equally revealed that no training or formal qualifications affect the ability to find mainstream work meaning opportunities to earn an income are limited.

On the contrary, Sanders (2007a) revealed that, educational factors reduce the vulnerability of sex workers. She claims those who work off-street (VIP) are more likely to have come from social backgrounds which are not excluded, have participated in mainstream work, completed full-time education, and may have a professional background. One could assume that it is both the more stable nature of off-street sex work which draws these workers to it, but also the relatively stable position of the workers which leads to greater stability in the first place.

Other causes of prostitution

1. Anglophone crisis and the quest for survival.

The “Anglophone Crisis” in Cameroon has morphed into an armed struggle. Over 2,000 people have been killed and over half a million people have fled to other cities within Cameroon or foreign countries including Nigeria and the United States (Chi Nixon and Savannah Smith, 2019)^[1]. Internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Cameroon, especially in the cities of Douala and Yaoundé, have been enduring the burden of the Anglophone Crisis in many ways. In armed struggles, normative metrics are often used in the form of battle deaths, logistical sustainability and the capacity and viability of the insurgent and counterinsurgent state to measure success. What is often left out and unseen, yet is a devasting part of the armed struggle, is “collateral damage” or unintended results.

RELUFA, the Joining Hands network in Cameroon, has been monitoring this conflict and its impacts on hunger and poverty. They revealed this, “collateral damage” by showing how this conflict has prevented people from meeting their basic needs and pushed young girls into prostitution as a consequence. This effect on women and young girls re-inscribes existing discrimination and increases poverty and hunger.

Based on a series of interviews conducted by RELUFA staff in July of 2019 in Douala, Cameroon, the report focuses on young women between the age of eighteen and twenty-five, but speaks to women generally beyond this demographic^[2]. Two young ladies Lucia and Nadege, in their early twenties fled from the North West region to Douala in 2019. Escaping violence, each girl found herself turning to prostitution. Lucia was separated from her siblings in the bush in Bamenda, left her mother behind in the village, and was unable to finish her last two years in the university due to insecurity. She has been living with Anglophone friends in Douala and life has not been easy for them due to lack of food, housing difficulties and challenges securing a good job with no diploma.

On the other hand, Nadege had already completed her degree, worked at a call box (phone cabin), and enrolled in a computer program in Bamenda. When the crisis escalated, she had to stop her program and her business. Her family house was burned in February of 2019 and she lost her brother to the violence. Because her family cannot afford accommodations, Nadege does not live with her siblings. Instead, she lives with a friend. As a result of these hardships, both Lucia and Nadege have turned to prostitution to survive.

Upon arrival in cities like Douala and Yaoundé, many women just like Lucia and Nadege find themselves structurally deprived of access to resources, which affects their ability to cope. Many Anglophone Cameroonians have lost family including parents, extended family, and siblings. This loss removes a safety net for financial and emotional support. Due to these factors, many young women find themselves turning to prostitution to provide for themselves, their siblings and family. For those who turn to prostitution, each client usually pays about 1,000 CFA ($2.00 USD) (Chi Nixon and Savannah Smith, 2019). Knowing that sex work is illegal yet tolerated, many women find themselves paid on the lower end and exposed to sexual and gender-based violence, which has serious psychological and health implications.

Vulnerable to sexual and gender-based violence as well as sexually transmitted diseases and infections, these women struggle psychologically, socially, and politically to assert themselves into a new social space. This is why it is important to strengthen the safety net for IDPs to enable successful coping, survival, social mobility and stability.

According to Solange Tegwi (2016), sex workers at Miniferme quarter in Yaoundé accuse or blame the proliferation of churches as result of some challenges in business.  A sex worker with name Caroline revealed that; “The money we used to have in two days, we now take two weeks to work for it. All the generous men have disappeared into thin air because of born-again churches and poverty”^[3]. She further added that, she has to double efforts and have at least fifteen to twenty clients in order to earn ten thousand francs compared to previous years.

CHAPTER TWO

GLOBALIZATION AND THE SEX INDUSTRY

Prostitution is a phenomenon which involves various persons (pimps, criminal groups, those who offer sexual services, etc.) and institutions. Sex accessory shops, medical services, pharmacies, security, transport, housing landlords, etc. also benefit from sex industry. The sex industry is structured in two different segments which are rewarded differently; the direct (pimps, taxi drivers, who are paid for customers to be delivered to the sex service providers, Internet pornography industry chat, drug dealers) and indirect (the state’s economy, which is obtained with the increased influx of tourism, airlines, whose services are used by tourists, hotels which take up a prostitute service user).

Drawing from a paper authored by Reuben Balfour with Jessica Allen (2014), social exclusion is commonly defined as, a series of linked and/or mutually reinforcing processes, such as low income, poverty, debt, unemployment, inadequate education, health care and lack of other social support.

Social exclusion usually affects migrants, persons living with disabilities, mental health patients and homeless persons often as a result of impoverishment, discrimination and lack of adequate public services. Many people who engage in sex work are subject to high levels of social exclusion, inadequate parenting, rape by family members or others persons.

Legislators have adopted several legal instruments to limit sexual exploitations. These include but are not limited to; the Palermo Protocol (2000) which created several other initiatives like the Council of Europe Convention against trafficking in human beings (2005) and most recently Directive 2011/36/EU, laying down minimum sanctions for traffickers as well as minimum support measures for victims. It also establishes the office of the anti-trafficking coordinator, which published its first action plan in June 2012.

THE ISSUE OF CONSENT

Prostitution in Cameroon is prohibited as per the penal code, though the business keeps flourishing in different patterns. Those who advertise themselves via social media platforms such as WhatsApp, Facebook, Tik tok and Instagram, can be contacted directly without standing on the streets but the ideal question is, whether prostitution is delivered as a sex service or under conditions of coercion or force is qualified as the criterion to distinguish between prostitution and sexual exploitation.

Some researchers argue that, the prostitution business is emerging as some exploit social media for advertising and directly discuss with clients, but for abuses, poverty and economic crisis in the Anglophone regions and unemployment situations which make women as men vulnerable (men are increasingly getting into homosexuality for survival). However, the question of whether sex services are consensually delivered is very difficult to prove, and therefore laws which criminalize the use of services without the consent of the victim face serious difficulties in implementation and cannot be effectively implemented^[4].

PROSTITUTION AS GENDER INEQUALITY PROBLEM

Prostitution demurs a strategic debate, though criminalized in Cameroon, the business continuous to flourish with the utilization of new technologies which just not only facilitates the business, increases the number of clients, but has also boosted the pornography industry. Some scholars perceive prostitution as a gender inequality problem, with the increasing rate of homosexuality in the continent. In relation to the hierarchal gender as proposed by some scholars, three core aspects have been revealed: (1) prostitution is a patriarchal gender relation; (2) prostitution entails the selling of women’s sexual self, not their labor; and (3) prostitution and trafficking are so closely linked that they are inseparable^[5].

Equally, the liberalism definition of freedom is contested by some fellows, to suggest “as something in the head, in one’s ‘thoughts,’ or as the physical/legal condition of ‘being let alone’” (Miriam, 2005, p. 3).  However, prostitution is often considered to be “natural” or “inevitable,” to women, who are often sexually oppressed (Jeffreys, 1999; Van Der Veen, 2001) and exploited in the society.

More so, Satz (2010) argues that prostitution “is a theatre of inequality; it displays for us a practice in which women are seen as servants of men’s desires” (p. 147), which correlates with Pateman (1988) on the fact that “prostitution is the use of a woman’s body by a man for his own satisfaction”.

Those adopting this perspective argue that Marx (1964) was wrong when he wrote that “[p]prostitution is only a specific expression of the general prostitution of the laborer” (p. 133). They argue what is being sold in sex commerce is not the same as the labor power sold by the worker to the capitalist (Phillips, 2011). Prostitution alone exploits the seller’s sexual self: “womanhood…is confirmed in sexual activity, and when a prostitute contracts out use of her body she is thus selling herself in a very real sense” (Pateman, 1988, p. 207). The prostitute/customer relation is thus an essential relation of domination and subordination of the self, arising only under conditions of gender inequality (Anderson, 2002; Farley, 2018; Satz, 2010): “the inequality that attends such markets is not just contingent; it is an intrinsic feature”^[6] (Phillips, 2011, p. 738).

Adherents to this perspective also claim that prostitution is analogous to sex trafficking (Bindel, 2017; Farley, Lynne, & Cotton, 2005; Raphael, Reichert, & Powers, 2010). Raymond (2002) argues “it is impossible to separate the exploitation done to women in local prostitution industries from the exploitation done to women who have been trafficked for prostitution” (pp. 498–499).

According to MacKinnon (2011), “[t]trafficking is transportation, transfer, harboring, or receipt of a human being for purposes of sexual exploitation: it is straight-up pimping” (p. 299). The global “sex industry” is a naive “euphemism for the sexual enslavement of women” (Dworkin, 2004, p. 138). Female, male and transgender sex workers face high levels of violence, stigma, discrimination and other human-rights violations. Violence against sex workers is associated with inconsistent condom use or lack of condom use, and with increased risk of STDs and HIV infection. Violence also prevents sex workers from accessing HIV information and services.

Violence is defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as the intentional use of physical force or power, threatened, against oneself, another person, or against a group or community that results or has a high likelihood of resulting in injury, death, sexual or psychological harm, maldevelopment or deprivation of liberty. Male, female and transgender sex workers may face violence because of the stigma associated with sex work, which in most settings is criminalized, or due to discrimination based on gender, race, HIV status, drug use or other factors. Most violence against sex workers is a manifestation of gender inequality and discrimination directed at women, or at men and transgender individuals who do not conform to gender and heterosexual norms, either because of their feminine appearance or the way they express their sexuality.

FORMS OF VIOLENCE FACED BY SEX WORKERS

1. Physical violence: Being subjected to physical force which can potentially cause death, injury or harm. It includes, but is not limited to: having an object thrown at one, being slapped, hit with the fist, kicked and choked (local parlance; cle quartoze), threatened with a weapon or having a weapon used against one (razor blade, gun and knife).
2. Sexual violence: Rape by an individual or group of persons, sexual harassment, being physically forced or psychologically intimidated to engage in sex or subjected to sex acts against one’s will (undesired touching, oral, anal or vaginal penetration with penis or with an object) or that one finds degrading or humiliating.
3. Emotional or psychological violence: Includes, but is not limited to, being insulted (e.g., called derogatory names); being threatened with loss of custody of one’s children; being confined or isolated from family or friends; repeated shouting, inducing fear through intimidating words or gestures. Human-rights violations that should be considered in conjunction with violence against sex workers are: denial or refused food or other basic necessities, refused or embezzlement money that is due to the person, arbitrarily stopped, subjected to invasive body searches or detained by police, denial of health-care services.

CONTEXTS OF VIOLENCE

There are several contexts, dynamics and factors that put sex workers at risk for violence. Understanding them is key to designing appropriate operational responses.

1. Workplace violence: This may include violence from managers, support staff (bouncers as locally termed), clients or co-workers in establishments where sex work takes place (brothels, bars, hotels).
2. Organized non-state violence: Sex workers may face violence from kidnappers, armed fighters or “rescue” groups.
3. State violence: Sex workers may face violence from military personnel, border guards and prison guards. Criminalization or punitive laws against sex work may provide cover for violence. Violence by representatives of the state compromises sex workers’ access to justice and police protection, and sends a message that such violence is not only acceptable but socially desirable.

Laws and policies, including ones that criminalize sex work, may increase sex workers’ vulnerability to violence. For example, forced rescue and rehabilitation raids by the police in the context of anti-trafficking laws may result in sex workers being evicted from their residences onto the streets, where they may be more exposed to violence. Fear of arrest or harassment by the police may force street-based sex workers to move to locations that are less visible or secure, or pressure them into hurried negotiations with clients that may compromise their ability to assess risks to their own safety.

Violence against sex workers is not always defined or perceived as a criminal act. For example, laws may not recognize rape against transgender individuals as a crime, or police may refuse to register a report of sexual violence made by a sex worker. Sex workers are often reluctant to report violent incidents to the police for fear of police retribution or of being prosecuted for engaging in sex work.

PROMOTING THE SAFETY AND SECURITY OF SEX WORKERS

Strategies to promote the safety and security of sex workers in their workplaces and communities may be formal or informal. Maintaining and sharing lists or reports of aggressors or incidents of violence against sex workers. In some settings this is called an “Ugly Mugs programme”. The list includes physical descriptions of perpetrators and vehicles involved. Reporting sheets can be made available online, by fax, e-mail, mail or at safe spaces (drop-in centers). The reports are compiled and distributed to sex workers through monthly bulletins, SMS or e-mails so that they know to avoid potentially dangerous individuals.

Promoting workplace security by negotiating with owners and managers of sex establishments to protect sex workers from perpetrators of violence. For example, the sex worker-led organization Ashodaya in Karnataka, India, incentivized hotel or lodge owners to protect sex workers from abuse by offering the owners access to free health services. Similarly, the KASH sex worker project in Kenya partnered with bar managers and staff to display a hotline number, and initiated an SMS based system that enables sex workers to send messages about experiences of violence and receive feedback and support from KASH staff.

Integrating violence prevention in HIV prevention counselling interventions with sex workers. In settings such as Mongolia, South Africa and the USA, HIV prevention counselling interventions that have integrated a safety-planning component have been evaluated and shown to reduce violence against sex workers. Counselling strategies are broadly focused on information and skills-building related to STI and HIV prevention. The violence prevention component includes: Working with sex workers to assess potentially violent situations and develop a “safety plan” to get out of such situations. For example, the Women’s Health CoOp project in Pretoria, South Africa offered individualized counselling sessions to sex workers that included discussions on safety strategies, including in relation to: use of alcohol and drugs; communication and negotiation skills for different situations to avoid precipitating conflict; and ways to exit unsafe situations.

CHAPTER THREE

CHALLENGES AND RISKS PROSTITUTES ENCOUNTER DAILY

1. RAPE BY CLIENTS

Rape is an eminent issue with sex workers by clients as most at times sex, workers pick up a client who turns out to be a robber. More so, some clients insist on performing sexual acts (unprotected sex, anal sex, double penetration and sex tape) for which the sex workers expressly deny. The client or the violent rapist may request a refund or forcefully recover his money from the sex worker, even after the act.

Cases of rape within the milieu

Angelle described her experience with a client turn rapist, which happened on her first day as a sex worker. Angelle recounted: “My first day was very bizarre. I did not know these nanga-bokos then as I do now. I accepted the proposal of one who took me to the Mbappe Lepe Stadium [located in Akwa] where three of them raped me without paying. I returned to the house, took a break for a week, did a [medical] test which showed all was fine, then went back to work. When I went out the next time, I was fortunate to meet a man to whom I told my story and he gave me CFAF300,000 ($600). I didn’t have sex with him at the time but he became a regular client. Now I see him like once in six months.”

Irene was raped by a client who took her to his house. Irene related what happened: “He [the client] felt provoked when I responded to one of his questions by saying that I am not his maid, he hit me and brought out a knife. When he finished raping me, he threw me out and threw my bag and shoes out after me”.

This was a client who had paid Irene prior to taking her to his house, and she picked him up from a nightclub and reported the incident to a nightclub bouncer she occasionally had sex with at a preferred rate of CFAF5,000 ($10). Irene said, “the bouncer and his friends were going to physically attack him the next time he came to the club. He didn’t have any money on him and I told them it wasn’t worth it.”

While most of the victims of rape were women, consistent with the disproportionately high number of female research participants, one of the two male sex workers interviewed, Christophe, was a victim of rape during the course of prostituting.

Christophe described what happened: I went into the hotel room and the man who took me [his client] had his friend hiding in the bathroom. “Usually, I go into the bathroom to freshen up prior to having sex but I don’t know what happened that I didn’t on that day. When the second man came out [of the bathroom] the first man said he had wanted a threesome. When I refused, they told me they will kill me. I had sex with one then had sex with the other while his friend videotaped using his phone. My client who had brought me into this situation later felt bad and gave me CFAF1.5 million ($3,000) and CFAF150,000 ($300) to make myself a passport. He told me that I could do a trade if I wanted.”

The amounts of money given to Christophe as post-rape compensation were unusual as well as very substantial. I asked Christophe if that money was given to him immediately after the incident and he said he stayed in touch with the “client” who had put him in that situation. When I asked if he was not suspicious of the large amount of money he was given, Christophe’s response reflects the uniqueness of the Cameroonian context and what I had become accustomed to hearing as a possible explanation of tough to fathom situations: superstition, sects, and witchcraft. Christophe explained:

You need to understand many people engage in same sex encounters because they belong to certain sects that require it of them. They are required to do things that are sometimes strange in order to gain certain advantages. I had a boyfriend once, he is now dead, but he was in his fifties and was very kind to me giving me everything I wanted. I lived with him like his wife but the only strange thing was that he acted like he was required to spend much money on some days. He would go out in the evening with CFAF500,000 ($1.000) and return with nothing. So, I am not surprised that this client gave me CFAF1.5 million ($3,000).

It is not uncommon that when a sex worker consents to, and is paid to have sex with one client, that client brings along another person with whom the sex worker is expected to have sex, usually under duress, hence rape. In order to avoid getting hurt, the sex worker would comply with the request, having sex with as many other people as required.

• RAPE BY POLICE OFFICERS

Existing research on violence towards sex workers lists the police as a category of persons responsible for raping sex workers (Gould, 2008; Liu, 2011), and this research confirms this finding within the context of Douala. Sex workers have numerous interactions with the police, which usually start when they are raided in police sweeps. However, some police officers take advantage of the raids to rape prostitutes.

Cases of rape within the security milieu

Hortense was rescued by the presence of a female officer in the police station^[7]. Hortense said: “I was arrested for vagabondage since I left home without proper identification. I was taken to the Bonanjo police station. At about 11 pm an officer came and asked me to have sex with him. His female co-worker heard the argument that followed and came and took me from there. She sent me back home in a taxi”.

Edith turned the misfortune of being raped by a police officer to her advantage. She said “I became ‘friends with the police officer who had forced me to have sex with him and although it did not become a relationship, the other police officers who carried on raids would no longer bother me as a result of that friendship.”

The sex workers who were victims of rape by the police reported the venue of the rape incidents to be the police station and in police vans driven to locations far away from where the prostitutes were picked up, usually after releasing the prostitutes in whom the police officers were not interested. Although the police are usual players perpetuating violence in the commercial sex industry across different countries and continents, their continued participation in inflicting violence on sex workers, although not unexpected, is regrettable. To be expected however, at least in the commercial sex scene in Douala, is the notorious participation of street boys in sexually assaulting prostitutes.

• RAPE BY STREET BOYS

Sex workers are prone to be raped by street boys. There are two options only left for them; either they give them money or have sex with them. Most at times the street boys are the ones to decide which option they prefer, which is a sort of human rights abuse on the sex worker.

The problem of sex workers’ definition of rape when it relates to street boys is seen in mini-ferme (a local neighborhood in Yaoundé), prostitutes have to pay street boys either in cash or in kind for protection. For new members they are usually engaged in multiple sexual partners (street boys) to better know who can secure them. Contrary to the new system of prostitution, where young girls post or upload sexy photos on social media (WhatsApp status and Facebook) appealing for prospective clients, they only discover themselves raped and not been paid. The fear to render a complaint at the police is because the Cameroon legislator criminalizes the activity, yet is still exploited for security purposes.

Violence towards sex workers is not limited to physical assaults, robberies and sexual assaults (use of devices or other tools on the latter during sex). During the process, sex workers are exposed to other risks, like fights and thefts, which if allowed to escalate, could expose them to further violence.

CHALLENGES OF QUITTING PROSTITUTION

A two-year research project, carried out in England by Eaves and London South Bank University to assess the effectiveness of different interventions designed to support women who want to quit prostitution, established a number of barriers to quitting prostitution. Although this research focused on women in prostitution those issues equally apply to all involved on prostitution and are therefore applicable to this Strategy.

1. Housing and finance

The quest for safe life and economic situation, retain sex workers from backing-out. Most prostitutes in Mini-Ferme attest that, even when you are accommodated by pimps, you’re not safe, because some called their friends to have sex with you, upload on different pornographic channels, and the worst is cybercriminals who will pay you to naked yourself and dance on webcam for their clients abroad. Some prostitutes equally added that, in order to pay their rents, they must engage in this activity, while others affirmed the pay their landlord with sex, since the latter knows their activity. 

• Physical and/or mental health problems

Following a discussion with some prostitutes in Mini-Ferme, some revealed that depression and anxiety, and most of all an inability to form trusting relationships led them in to prostitution.  One of the prostitutes (Larissa) revealed that; ‘the first guy that dis-virgined her, could engage into sexual intercourse with her at least five times a day, will make her screaming’. Due to childhood violence by her uncle, who continuously raped her, she was forced to leave the house and gain the streets. She equally revealed that there are clients that she sometimes called and they had for free, just to remember her former lover.

• Coercion

Contrary to sex workers who stand along the streets, those that exploit social networking sites are more reluctant to leave the trade, as even when married, and their husbands are not in town, to respond to their sexual anxiety, they turn to their former clients. Discussing with a lady, who engages in sex work via social networking sites revealed that; ‘when her husband abuses her physically and does not give money, she turns to her clients who satisfy her, sexually and financially. She equally added that all women are prostitutes, it depends how, when, where, whom she does it with’. More so, coercion may also be linked to drug use (consumption of drugs by some men for sexual activities) and accommodation problems (women stranded or constantly send out from their marital residence).

• Age of entry

The entry age in to prostitution varies as to whether the person may step-out or not. Those that engage at a tender age, either as a result of coercion, drug use or experiences of childhood violence, may be reluctant to quit the activity, following their difficult experience and those that exploit online service exempting parental guidance.  In an interview with a lady at Mini-Ferme, she said; ‘I had a good friend of mine, we started prostitution at the same time, but she met someone who could do everything for her. She got married to him, but still prostitutes, for the fact that he does not know how to satisfy her’. The issue with prostitution is the need for sensitization and how they can be re-integrated in to the society after quitting the activity.

CHAPTER FOUR

INTERNATIONAL LEGAL INSTRUMENTS AGAINST SEXUAL EXPLOITATION, TRAFFICKING OF HUMAN BEINGS AND PROSTITUTION

Prostitution has existed for as long as human existence. In biblical times it was viewed from a moral standpoint and greatly stigmatized. Interestingly, in spite of the declarations of human rights to which modern day citizenship is associated, prostitution is still regarded with extreme scrutiny and for the most part still stigmatized. This scrutiny is obvious in the debates on the definition of prostitution, including whether it can be considered as work or if it is inherently violent and exploitative, whether women can be said to choose to prostitute or if they are forced to choose prostitution due to their socioeconomic situations, exacerbated by the unavailability of viable alternatives.

Scholarly interventions have revealed the complexity of understanding prostitution. Though several reasons are advance by its actors for its continued existence, the modus operandi in the activity whether street and indoor and how policy can be better suited to its practical realities. It’s necessary to out pin that, though prostitution is criminalized in some countries, there is a close link between prostitution and security in relation to intelligence. Below are some international legal instruments which could ignite to Cameroon, despite the criminalization of prostitution.

THE UNITED NATIONS

The United Nations has extensively worked in the field of fighting sexual exploitation. The legal provisions are part of international law on combatting violence against women, forced labor and trafficking of human beings. In recent years, the UN and the Council of Europe (CoE) have started to highlight the relation between these criminal offences and the demand for sexual services. Below are some of the most relevant instruments suitable for Cameroonian context.

1. Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others, 1949

Adopted on December 2, 1949, one year after the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, this was the first legally binding document to address the issue of trafficking for sexual exploitation as incompatible with the dignity and worth of the human person. It recognizes a link between prostitution and trafficking for sexual exploitation. It calls for punishment for those who “procure, entice or lead” others into prostitution, “exploit the prostitution of another person”, or knowingly keep or manage a brothel or any place for the purpose of the prostitution of others. Furthermore, it prohibits any regulation used to subject prostituted persons to registration or any other administrative controls.

• Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), 1989

The UN General Assembly adopted the Convention in 1989, which is a human rights treaty that sets out the civil, political, economic, social, health and cultural rights of children.

The CRC calls upon States Parties to undertake all appropriate measures to protect the child from all forms of sexual exploitation, including the exploitative use of children in prostitution or other unlawful sexual practices and the use of children in pornography.

Sexual abuse and exploitation include commercial sexual exploitation, child prostitution and child pornography, and it is considered as a form of violence, and therefore “psychologically intrusive, exploitive and traumatic” even if not accompanied by physical force or restraint.

COUNCIL OF EUROPE

The Council of Europe has a prominent role in leading the fight against trafficking in human beings, including for the purpose of sexual exploitation, and violence against women and as a regional organization has produced an important number of Resolutions and Recommendations to encourage and support Member States in addressing these issues, some of which have targeted specifically the phenomenon of trafficking in women for sexual exploitation.

Besides, the Council of Europe has adopted three Conventions, in an attempt to set overarching legal instruments, which would set minimum standards at European level:

• The Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (2005);
• The Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse (2007);
• The Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse, 2007

The Council of Europe has adopted a number of instruments concerning sexual exploitation of children. However, given the magnitude of the problem and the lack of reliable data of the phenomenon of sexual exploitation and abuse of children, a comprehensive international legally binding instrument was put into place which focuses on the preventive, protective and criminal aspects of the fight against sexual exploitation and sexual abuse of children.

Thus, the Convention, adopted in 2007, contains a battery of measures addressing prevention, protection and assistance to victims; coordination of authorities; investigation, prosecution and procedural issues. Besides, it includes a comprehensive chapter of substantive criminal law concerning offences related with sexual abuse, child prostitution, child pornography, corruption of children and solicitation of children for sexual purposes.

The Council of Europe recognizes that the demand for child prostitutes has increased markedly, and child prostitution is often linked to organized crime and involves trafficking.

Article 19 therefore establishes links between demand and supply of child prostitutes and requires criminal sanctions for both the recruiters and the users of child prostitutes. “(…) Owing to the serious harm sustained by child prostitutes, the negotiators felt it was justified to impose penalties on the customers of child prostitutes”.

RECOMMENDATIONS

HOW NGOs CAN SUPPORT PROSTITUTES

It is important to realize that the needs of those wishing to leave prostitution could be complex and require the services of a range of providers in the statutory, voluntary and community sectors. While some voluntary and community groups may have a role in signposting to other agencies, others will have a significant role in assisting and supporting those involved in prostitution to leave. Strong relationships between all sectors will be key to helping those involved in prostitution overcome the barriers they face in leaving prostitution.

1. Health

With the proliferation of non-governmental organizations in Cameroon, particularly in the two Anglophone regions and center region, it is necessary that these actors engage sex workers about the dangers of their activity and nurture them in to leaving the activity through health advise. Many prostitutes be it those on the streets or those exploiting social networking sites for their activity suffer a number of health problems. As such mental health counselors have a great role to play in leading prostitutes out of their anxiety and sexual prison. In assistance with non-governmental organizations, seminars should be organized on sexual reproductive health clinics, genito-urinary medicine (gum) clinics, substance abuse, sexually transmitted diseases like HIV, and acute mental health services.

• Employment and Training

There is wrong narrative about sex workers by the society; most believe that they have not been to school, neither are they trained, family background or profile. Discussing with several girls in Mini-Ferme neighborhood, I realized that some grow up in wealthy families and the departure of their parents led them to prostitution, because they were no longer having the money they used to get from their parents, and family relatives abandoned them, while some complained of being raped by family members continuously.

I also found that some of them are educated (have A/L, BTS, Bacc), with one stating that; ‘I started prostitution via social media sites, where I post pictures where am half naked, and then people call, pay through mobile payment and I go pass the night… I later discover a new strategy, either go to Mini-Ferme or Biyem-Assi in popular snack bars, buy a drink and when someone approaches me, I give in and the latter pays’. Non-governmental organizations can work in partnership with human resource consulting companies, in organizing trainings for prostitutes and reviewing some of their CVs or creating one for educated persons completing application forms for them and as well teaching them on interview techniques.

CONCLUSION

Upon its conclusion, this study acknowledges and compliments greatly the study titled Prostitution en Afrique: L’exemple de Yaoundé by Songué (1986) and The Commercial Sex Industry In Douala, Cameroon: A Qualitative Investigation by Asuagbor (2014, PhD diseertation). Although published almost three decades prior to the current study, Songué’s research, which focused on prostitution in Yaoundé, remains pertinent in the understanding of the commercial sex industry in Cameroon today and provides a solid background as well as a strong basis for comparative research.

With the proliferation of social networking sites, exploited by young prostitutes, as famous Cameroonian musician Mahloox sings; ‘t’as combine? Montres moi le bas, t’as combine bien?’. The challenge of legalizing and liberalizing the prostitution market is already facilitated either by a smart phone, laptop or any other portable device which attracts clients to sex workers, and is a major blow in law enforcement fight against trafficking in human beings. However, it is necessary to appeal that, there is a relation between women selling sex, men buying sex and the police, that of intelligence. Foreigners as well as nationals who visit sex workers milieu or online clientele can easily be investigated and apprehended when they need to hook up.

Most policies addressed by the government for sex workers are oriented towards the criminal justice system and punitive measures to tackle and reduce sex work activities at the expense of health and safety (Cusick and Berney, 2005; Hubbard, Matthews and Scoular, 2007). This approach seems to adapt to the situation in Cameroon, yet sex workers are prone physical and mental health issues. More so, non-governmental organizations most step up their sensitization campaigns against sexually transmitted infections, as is an inevitable risk which a number of outreach programmes aim to combat (Jeal, Salisbury and Turner, 2008), because many sex workers still engage in risky behavior, such as having sex without a condom (attributing it to the satisfaction or pleasure without condom).

Research conducted by Scambler and Paoli (2008), revealed that, condom use amongst sex workers has increased over the last 30 years and HIV has decreased over the same period. The numbers of other sexually transmitted infections also remain low; however, the potential for transmission is high for prostitutes who advertise using social networking sites. Most of these people shy away from condom, and believe the man is the one to buy it, and when not available, they engage in sexual intercourse without it and because those who equally request sex without condom pay high. Nonetheless, sex workers must continue to get the sexual health support, why not provide them with condom in order to prevent sexual health epidemics (Cusick and Berney, 2005).

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^[2] https://folkinception.com/cameroon/cameroon-prostitutes-bamenda.php/

^[3] https://cameroonpostline.com/prostitutes-blame-hardships-on-new-churches/%E2%80%8B

^[4] https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/etudes/join/2014/493040/IPOL-FEMM_ET(2014)493040_EN.pdf

^[5]Benoit, C., Smith, M., Jansson, M. et al. “The Prostitution Problem”: Claims, Evidence, and Policy Outcomes. Arch Sex Behav 48, 1905–1923 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-018-1276-6

^[6] https://ramsey.stanford.edu/entries/feminist-sex-markets/

^[7] THE COMMERCIAL SEX INDUSTRY IN DOUALA, CAMEROON:A QUALITATIVE INVESTIGATION by Dilys Asuagbor. A Dissertation for the degree ofDoctor of PhilosophyGraduate Program in Criminal Justice submitted to the Graduate School-Newark Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey