Botswana: Prostitution may be legalized
Posted on Sunday 5 December 2010 - 05:31
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Mtheto Lungu, AfricaNews reporter in Lilongwe, Malawi
Some Botswana politicians have called on the country to consider legalising prostitution to fight against HIV/AIDS.
Botlogile Tshireletso, a deputy minister, told the BBC it was time for the government to discuss the issue.
Botswana, which has a high prevalence of HIV, has earned a reputation for being proactive in the Aids battle. There is, however, an unwillingness to legalise brothels.
The report said many people in Botswana disapprove of s*x workers and they are often harassed by police.
Ms Tshireletso, assistant minister for local government, has broken ranks with her cabinet colleagues.
"My opinion is: We should consider looking at it because it is there - we should as government take the initiative to do something to help these workers," she told the BBC's Network Africa programme.
Uphill struggle
Opposition leader Dumelang Saleshando agreed but said it would be an uphill struggle.
"Firstly the majority view is very clear, Botswana is against the legislation making illegal s*x work a legal economic activity," he told the BBC.
"But at the same time you can't ignore it… the industry itself is one of the drivers of the virus," he said.
Figures sourced from the Global Fund and Botswana government by the BBC indicate about 300,000 adults in Botswana are living with HIV, nearly a quarter of the population aged over 15. 150,000 people are on ARVs, and 95,000 are orphans due to Aids.
Of the children, 97% are now born to HIV-positive mothers are now free of the virus.
One of the many truck drivers often travelling through Botswana as they transport goods from South Africa to Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo, told the BBC: "When I'm going to sleep with a girl I use a c*ndom," a driver at the Tlokweng-Zeerust border post with Zambia.
Commercial s*x workers said they also insist their customers use c*ndoms, but because they work in dangerous places they are open to abuse and rape.
"[Legalising s*x work] will help us to stand up for our rights… and get support for HIV and Aids," one s*x worker in Ledumadumane, a neighbourhood on the outskirts of Gaborone said.
If it is legalised more people are going to engage in commercial s*x which means there'll be more infections”
Another commercial s*x worker said: "I know I'm not safe because when I'm doing it outdoors I can get raped or even the client can rob me."
Everyone in Botswana is entitled to free c*ndoms from health centres though s*x workers complain that police officers often confiscate their c*ndoms, telling them their trade was illegal, he says.
The UN said almost 1,000 babies in sub-Saharan Africa are infected with HIV through transmission of the virus from their mothers every day. Botswana's government says through its efforts 97% children born to HIV-positive mothers are now born free of the virus.
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Sunday, December 5th 2010 at 2:02PM
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