By GORETHY KENNETH
THE number of sex workers operating in Buka and Arawa is on the rise and there is less attention from authorities on the issue.
A non government organisation working on the issue of women and sexual violence confirmed last week that there were definitely sex workers operating in Bougainville.
“It’s here, and they are sex workers here. We just have to accept the fact that there are sex workers in Buka and Arawa,” the NGO boss said.
“We are not paying attention to these people because, yes, it is their personal life style but it has to stop somehow and those involved need counselling and some help.
“We have a lot land to work on, copra, cocoa, but then again, lifestyle has changed, Buka is full of people from all over Bougainville and outside and when it comes to talking about farming, agriculture or smallscale business to make a living, I guess they see sex work as the fastest way to make money.”
The NGO group could not disclose its identity because of the sensitivity of the issue and because they are trying to maintain the confidentiality in dealing with some of these women.
The Post-Courier spoke to one of the young sex workers from mainland Bougainville a month ago and again recently – she’s only 20 but has businessmen and professional workers as clients.
For two occasions, the paper spoke to her, once in April and just recently, very shy to talk but content as she claimed that was her way of earning a living.
“I finished school because my mother couldn’t pay my school fee,” Sylvia (not her real name) told the Post Courier.
She briefly said she likes the gadgets the clients give her (mobile, ear rings, expensive things) and the money they can provide for her whenever she needs it.
The paper has also spoken to two of these workers secretly Martha and Ralien (not their real names) who live in Buka – one is a “home scholar” as she puts it and another a public servant who says times are tough, goods and services prices are on the rise, school fee is on the rise, husband is also womanising and there is not enough to cater for family.
“It’s quick money, husband stays at home looking after our kid and I tell him I am off to town to work for some money. He doesn’t know what I do as long as I send home food, money and whatever he wants from the money I get from my operations,” Martha (not her real name) said.
Ralien works at a reputable ABG division in Buka. I met her at Kuri and again at Melannies nightclub several weeks back.
Last week, she confessed that she was a sex worker and that she wanted to end that role (sex work) but said she blamed the government for underpaying her as she was struggling to fend for her family.
She is not from Buka Island, but a mainland Bougainvillean working in Buka.
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