Poverty fuels Sex work in Cowdry Park

By Duduzile Ruzive

Angela Ndlovu (17) (name changed) says when her mother left the country to find a job in South Africa, her life changed drastically. She was left to take care of her 13 year old brother. This situation forced her to engage in sex work since her mother was not sending enough money and was not even communicating regularly.

Angela lives in Cowdry Park, a high density suburb in Bulawayo metropolitan province. The suburb is overcrowded and some sections have no services such as water and electricity. This situation exposes residents to criminal activities. Sex work is also rampant because of such conditions.

After a few months of staying alone with her young brother, Angela realised that she had to do something to have food on the table.

“When my mother left the country, she did not give me enough money to cover for our basic needs. She did not have that kind of money but she promised me that she was going to send as soon as she got a job in South Africa,” says Angela.

Angela says her mother had challenges getting a job in South Africa and for some time she was not sending anything. She adds that when she finally got a job, the salary was very low and there was little to send back home.

There are scores of young girls who are sex workers in Cowdry Park and Angela says she learned about sex work from one of her friends. She says unlike other sex workers, she uses her mobile phone to communicate with her clients. Angela says she does not go to night clubs to find clients. Her clients include boys of her age or even younger and elderly men.

“I offer my services to diverse clients and I charge between USD3 and USD10 for a brief encounter and USD15 for a full night. I am aware that young boys have no money, so I charge them less. I have to accommodate more clients so as to earn more money,” says Angela.

Angela says she uses the proceeds of her work to support herself and pay school fees for her young brother. She says her mother is not aware of what she does to get money. She says some relatives know that that she is a sex worker but since they are not contributing anything towards her welfare, they have nothing to say to her.

Angela says many people in Cowdry Park pretend to condemn sex work in public yet even some community and church leaders are always seeking the services of sex workers.

“It is sad that people are full of deceit. They pretend to hate sex work and then seek the services of sex workers. They promote violence and hatred against sex workers and at the same time they nicodemously come for our services,” says Angela.

Angela says she wishes people would be open minded about sex work and stop judging. She says she and her friends have not experienced any violence because they are selective and they do not operate outside their community.