Where was this woman born, who is she, what religion, tribe, her beliefs etc..? What... is she sane?





Every woman is a sex worker

SEX TRADE: Nabusayi Wamboka



We’ve been down this road before but it’s a road we shall travel constantly until we get to a more understanding and equal environment. A group of people branding others evil and their acts illegal because they are having sex differently is quickly becoming a broken record.



Take the recent revived debate of the halted conference of sex workers that was due in Entebbe. Whether it was held or not is not really important. What is important is the debate that followed and the subsequent bad mouthing the so-called moralists including the Honourable Minister of Ethics Nsaba Buturo and Dr Martin Sempa directed towards what society has come to describe as sex workers or prostitutes.



I hate the idea of criminalising sex work and the constant humiliation of fellow women go through each time Kampala City Council cracks down on them and charges them with being idle and disorderly. As long as it is an intimate act, both men and women are involved in the sex act, but most moralists and law enforcers choose to pick on the women because they are the weakest victims– the men, well, they disappear in thin air.



Moralists especially men must not institutionalise the control of women’s bodies and actions. Our laws have legitimised male sex workers by including polygamy in our laws, effectively allowing men to have sex with as many women as they want but never the other way round. What makes people think it is dirty for women to have sex with as many men as they want?



Do we still have to ask why the women are the most highly infected with HIV/Aids, including married women and yet it is the men doing all the sex thing? There is something about the male ego that gets bruised each time a woman makes a bold move about her sexuality. A woman who negotiates sex in cash and kind is so powerful and intimidating and a man will do anything to bring her down.



At the same time, such men crave sexually powerful women who are not afraid to sell sex, that they will keep going back for more effectively keeping sex work on the rise. White collar sex work is actually far more profitable and abound everywhere. And it doesn’t matter what you call these women, or how much you want to outlaw them. They will never go away as long as men and women still exist.



The important thing to do is legalise the trade and collect taxes through licences, establish health or safe centres that constantly provide safe sex information and counselling services to the public. While the women have constantly been boxed into submission through constant humiliation, including the women’s movement that was totally silent when the issue of the aborted conference came up, there is no woman who is safe from this practice.



Nobody wants to associate with the so-called prostitutes or sex workers but generally every woman is a sex worker depending on the vows on the table, the frequency and the place. Others are just busy sex workers (who try to coin what they think is a respectable title of mistress) while others are busy baby makers mainly referred to as wife or wives.



Wives are mainly those who are proud to have marriage rings on their fingers, have lived long enough with the man to be described as a wife and have children. It is impossible for these ones to negotiate sex because they will be thrown out of their marital homes. My point is that sex work is a two-way street and must never be associated with just women.



The writer is women rights activist

Monitor 9th April '08