Protect Our Sex Workers Daily Gleaner

February 8, 2014

Protect Our Sex Workers

Published: Wednesday | January 8, 2014 3 Comments

Ramesh Sujanani, Contributor

It is often remarked that prostitution is the oldest profession in the world. That is possibly correct, except I would have thought that some ancient culture, or religious man or magician, would have that distinction. I saw a survey The Gleaner was doing on its website, regarding the legality of prostitution, and I am inclined to believe that it should cause debate, very much like that famous (or infamous) marijuana issue.

So consulting my oracle, I was made aware of the following: properly licensing prostitutes and their place of activities can be a great controlling factor in many dangers that affect the 'pro-fession'.

Licensing a prostitute, by way of insisting on them carrying a card similar to the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) card, can place the prostitute under the protection of the police, the medical profession and social services.

On a periodic basis, that card could be handed to a designated authority (or a tax office), a fee would be collected to take care of security, medical tests, family planning, and other social services.

Police could manage trafficking, brothels, child prostitution and narcotics. Medical personnel could monitor rates of sexual diseases and family planning.

Social services could help find living solutions for the prostitutes, their children and other family members.

It is believed that it is the unfortunate lack of literacy and education that has contributed most to the proliferation of prostitution in Jamaica.

But the views of some medical persons are somewhat different. If the prostitute is tested every four weeks, she (or he) may contract HIV in the course of a day's business, and many of her partners would be affected within the six weeks needed to conclude an HIV test.

Only recently has a rapid home-test kit been made available, which might provide a result in about 40 minutes. However, the reliability of this needs to be confirmed over time.

frequency of HIV testing

If the prostitute works on a casual basis, then the occupation becomes hazardous. In other words, a part-time prostitute is more likely to be infected than one who works constantly in a brothel, because the latter has a better medical discipline.

Many prostitutes, while being attractive and pragmatic human beings, seem to have very little education, often being unable to write or count. This is the main reason that a young female might find herself in this service.

We have to focus more on education so we can help these persons find alternative solutions.

Many Jamaican women travel to the more affluent resort islands - St Martin, Barbados, and Trini-dad, and any other available location such as Curacao, Antigua, and Nassau.

A significant number of prostitutes dance in Jamaica's night clubs and a small percentage of them might be from other countries. Massage parlours in Jamaica sometimes operate as fronts for brothels. The advertisements are everywhere.

Gay prostitutes can be found working in hotels as entertain-ment agents. The homophobic nature of the country forces male prostitutes, generally, to conduct their business with more discretion. Still, some male pros-titutes have been known to operate openly in hotel premises.

children in the sex trade

Economic difficulties and social pressures contribute to the prevalence of child prostitution. Young girls are hired by 'go-go' clubs or massage parlours. Children are also trafficked, internally, for sexual exploitation which is in breach of their human rights.

Generally speaking, very little can be done for a prostitute if she does not come under surveillance by legal means, such as those described above. We should support any move that brings them under non-vindictive, legal management.

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Generally speaking, very little can be done for a prostitute if she does not come under surveillance