Acting on a news report credited to a
Lagos-based evening newspaper, PM News, agents of the Lagos State Task
Force on Environmental and Special Offences Enforcement Unit, arrested
52 alleged prostitutes at Isaac John and Toyin Street in Ikeja, Lagos.
This arrest happened sometime this month. But of course, such action by
the Lagos State government is not new. In the summer of 2011, for
instance, 28 suspected prostitutes were arrested and prosecuted and then
sent to the Kirikiri Prison in Lagos, to serve various prison terms for
their alleged infractions.
In this and most other instances, it is the women
that suffer the consequences. How could this be? Whatever happens to the
men to whom sexual goods and services were provided? It is a blatant
misuse of executive power to arrest prostitutes but let the male
clientele off the hook. If prostitution is a crime, then, all the
parties involved, must be made to face the judicial music equally. In
other word, there must be equality of sanction and punishment for all
concerned. To do otherwise, is to favour one gender over another. And
this, we must not tolerate. It is simply not fair.
But my central argument, here, is actually not about
equality and fairness, but about the senselessness of prohibiting
commercial sex. There is nothing wrong with commercial sex; therefore,
prostitutes should not be arrested, nor prostitution prohibited. But to
hear some Nigerians tell it, prostitution is a very bad thing. In their
minds, exchanging sex for money is an abhorrent act – an act to be
condemned by all citizens. And especially for the religious-minded
folks, prostitution is against God’s will. Hogwash!
And then there are the conservative and
ultra-conservatives who thinks prostitution soils the moral clothing of a
society. I do not accept or endorse any of these arguments (because)
not only do I think that opponents of prostitution are wrong, they are
narrow-minded. But above all else, they are hypocrites. They seem to
forget, or conveniently forget that human beings habitually exchange sex
for something — be it political or social favour, or for many other
wants and needs. Sex, as with many things in life, is not free. It has
never been free!
The dishonesty of those who condemn prostitution
bothers me. Prostitution is a minor infraction – assuming you want to
label it an infraction. Karl Kraus said that “Corruption is worse than
prostitution. The latter might endanger the morals of an individual; the
former invariably endangers the morals of the entire country.”
Absolutely! We arrest prostitutes, yet praise politicians; we prosecute
prostitutes, yet honour political bastards who, for the most part, are
the same folks who weaken our institutions and corrupt the larger
society.
The larger society is even mistaken when it comes to
prostitution. This is what I mean: how many of us condemn the
sugar-daddy or kept-woman phenomenon? As a society, we also don’t mind
it when a 45, 55 or 60-year-old man sleeps with and or impregnates a 16,
18 or 20 year-old-girl. No body arrests the sugar-daddy. Nobody arrests
keepers of concubines. Poverty and culture factors allow us to condone
the aforementioned acts and relationships. The sugar-daddy phenomenon is
not new; but recent economy difficulties have made it more permissible.
There was a time when the age difference between a sugar-daddy and his
beneficiary was, say, 10-15 years. A 55 or 65-year-old man could have a
25-35-year-old as his sex-pet. No more! Things have changed. Sugar
daddies now consider women who are past 35 to be too old and too haggard
for their sexual appetite. The ideal age range is now 16-30. And then
there are the kept-women!
Most kept-women have no visible source of income –
save for the pocket of the moneymen “keeping” them. You will find many
of these women in the many highbrow areas that dot many Nigerian cities.
These women basically fulfil three roles: provide sex on demand; act as
an unofficial or trophy wife; and, in some case, have babies for their
benefactors. Many kept-women don’t mind their unofficial status because
it frees them from being part of the plural marriage arrangement: they
don’t have to deal with the second, third or fourth wife; and they
certainly don’t have to compete with and within the monogamous setting.
What’s more, their kept status affords them many
options – including the option baby-mamas to two or three different rich
men. Their homes are like the brothel where men can come and leave at
will. These being the case, in what ways are these women different from
your archetypal prostitute? I don’t see the difference just as I can
find no discernible variance between your typical prostitute and a
sugar-baby. In all of these cases, women get provided for — in exchange
for sex and affectionate favours. Do the police, the paragon of social
mores, or law enforcement entities, go after these women? Of course not!
In all three instances, we see a simple economic concept come to play:
demand and supply!
Why then do we arrest and indict prostitutes? Why are
we so hung up on prostitution? There is nothing wrong with prostitution
because, amongst other factors, it helps the formal and informal
economy, and also helps the providers and beneficiaries alike. In a
country where about 35 per cent of the youths, and 45 per cent of women
are unemployed, underemployed, or unemployable, what do you expect? The
Nigerian government does not have the moral authority to censure
prostitution; and neither does the Nigerian society. To stem the tide of
saleable sex, we must educate and provide for our girls: provide
excellent education; and provide a rich and enabling environment where
everyone can be happy.
What government should do, as Dr. Josh Beall and Dr. Allison Pattison
have said, is to allow for their unionisation so they can have access
to medical, dental, and family benefits. And that there should be
stringent disease and pregnancy tests. On both counts, I agree. Aside
from the apparent hypocrisy, it makes no sense wasting valuable
resources chasing after innocent citizens. Prostitution, therefore,
should be legalised.
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