Mozambique sex workers struggle to survive

Last updated on September 11th, 2021 at 02:45 pm

In Mozambique, prostitutes continue to work in the midst of a health crisis.

This is Tete, where the red light areas are as busy despite the risk of contracting COVID-19.

Even during the state of emergency, at dusk, the sex workers come out parading as they search for clients.

It is risky but they say they are aware of the disease and are taking preventive measures.

“We wash our hands with soap and water and we always wear a mask. We also have soap and water for our guests, when they enter the room they have to wash their hands. At the time of the relationship, we each wear a mask. “.

While the Province has already confirmed cases of the new Coronavirus, two of them are sex workers – a Mozambican and a foreigner.

“Right now our business is not good because of the Coronavirus, all the stands are closed, so these men don’t come here. This is our concern, we support it and that is why we are asking the government to intervene in order to find a “solution to this problem”.

The mayor of Tete, César de Carvalho, is aware of the problem combined with illegal activity and so many foreign prostitutes. He is calling for multidimensional action to put an end to it.

“We’re going to have to get started all together, the immigration services, the police, and the municipality to control foreign women but it is not easy, it is not something that begins today and will end tomorrow.

This is a problem that will take time but that can be resolved. “ Besides the city of Tete, where the activity also takes place in broad daylight, the same business buzzes in the city of Moatize which is 21 kilometers from the provincial capital. In vulnerable situations, these women have no other choice but to continue risking their lives to earn their daily bread.