Where I come from, prostitution is wrong, period
With the influx of potential customers, prostitution, including child prostitution and human trafficking, are expected to surge - as is often the case during these big events. I can already see some of you nodding your heads and thinking: "Ja, this is Africa." Actually, no, this is a worldwide phenomenon.
There are fears that women and children from around the world, but more so those from neighbouring countries, will be forced into prostitution. Criminal gangs will employ illicit tactics and coerce women and children into prostitution with the false pretext of job opportunities.
There will also be huge health risks accompanying all of this.
Sub-Saharan Africa is already reeling from the HIV/Aids pandemic and you can imagine what will happen when the expected horde of visitors hit these shores. It is estimated that 50% of prostitutes are infected with the virus.
With everyone looking ahead to raking in the big bucks during the soccer spectacle, it's no wonder that there have been loud noises for the legalisation of prostitution from some quarters.
In countries where the World Cup has been staged and where prostitution is legal, businesses have capitalised on the event. Brothels were going up as fast as stadiums were being built.
Even the ladies of the night are looking forward to cashing in. Teenage girls interviewed on CNN recently spoke of the excitement at being able to charge more than the current measly R50 per hour.
There have also been calls from health workers who are concerned about the spread of disease. They, too, are asking for the legalisation of the world's oldest profession during the World Cup. They are suggesting a register of sex workers and mandatory HIV testing, with those who test negative being the only ones allowed to trade. Can you imagine the legal suits that will stem from such a decision - violation of human rights, discrimination, and so forth?
But the timing of their calls seems to suggest that the health of football fans is more important than that of the workers, otherwise they would have asked for these measures long ago. It also doesn't make sense to enforce the tests on the workers alone if the measure is truly to curb the spread of HIV/Aids.
I must confess that I haven't been following the debate on the legalisation of prostitution too closely. Call me old-fashioned but where I come from, prostitution is wrong, period. Growing up, I got to understand that this is a trade based on the exploitation and the dehumanisation of women rather than one based on a woman's choice.
All the movies we watched painted a picture of male pimps lurking in dark alleys while the girls worked the streets and got abused, all at the same time. In recent years, prostitution has been a boon to the underworld, with thousands of women being trafficked across geographical borders and living a life akin to slavery.
What I'm saying is that I truly struggle to see a woman (and men these days) waking up one morning and deciding: well, actually, what I want to do is to sell my body. These people are forced into prostitution by socioeconomic factors.
But a study into the sex industry in Cape Town, conducted by the Institute for Security Studies in collaboration with Sex Worker Education and Advocacy Taskforce, suggests otherwise. It reveals that most people entered the industry to "meet their immediate financial needs" but once there, they remained because of the benefits offered them by the industry. The pay is apparently better than many other jobs, they are paid in cash and there are no academic or previous work experience requirements. In my book, these benefits are so low it's like an abused woman being grateful that her male partner doesn't punch her anymore but just slaps her.
The research also paints a picture of exploitation by brothel owners and what it describes as harassment by the police, among other issues.
In other words, it's easy to enter the industry, but does that make it acceptable? I would argue that I know of many other industries that are also easy to enter and that also pay in cash, like domestic work, for example.
And as for police harassment, all I have to say is: look under the bridges and behind and inside the bushes next to the highways for the kind of harassment that motorists have to endure from traffic police.
Whatever the outcome of the debate on legalising prostitution, I wonder about our preparedness for the battle with the seedy side of the beautiful game.
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debecker