Tag: sex workers

Dust, Gold, and Infection: Midlands Province Grapples with Mining-Driven HIV Epidemic

Michael Gwarisa
A young artisanal miner operates a lever at a mine shaft in Gokwe, Zimbabwe, highlighting the risks faced by children working in unsafe mining environments.

By Michael Gwarisa in Midlands Province As one descends the winding Boterekwa curves in Shurugwi in the Midlands province, the scale of mining activity becomes impossible to ignore. The landscape has transformed dramatically since the turn of the millennium. In the distance, rocks are blasted from the earth, sending thick clouds of dust into the sky. Just past the curves, Musasa Shopping Centre is a hive of activity. Evidence of the night’s revelry litters the open space, with empty beer bottles and used condoms scattered near Chirasha Bar, one of…

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How Masvingo’s Health Facilities Are Giving Sex Workers a Lifeline Amid Donor Cuts

Michael Gwarisa

By Michael Gwarisa in Masvingo She is nine months pregnant and could give birth any day now, yet Melody Mhlanga* still sells sex to survive. The 25-year-old from Gutu, Masvingo Province, found herself thrust into the world of sex work three months ago after her marriage collapsed. With no income, no support, and a baby on the way, she saw no other path. “I joined sex work three months ago when my marriage crumbled,” she says, her voice trembling. “I didn’t have any source of income, and I needed to…

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NAC’s HIV response efforts pay off for Mat South

Kuda Pembere

THE HIV response in Matebeleland South has been improving dropping the prevalence and incidence rates in the province owing to consistent massive campaigns by the National AIDS Council (NAC) over the past 11 years. By Kuda Pembere recently in Gwanda This was said by the former NAC Mat South Provincial Manager Mr Isaia Abureni during a media tour around his province organised by the organization. Despite the province ranking the highest in terms of HIV prevalence in the country in most of the years, its incidence dropped by more than…

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Gweru Sex Workers Pose as MSU Students To Get Sex Clients As Competition Gets Tough

Michael Gwarisa

IN a few weeks’ time, the Midlands State University (MSU) will resume classes, and sex workers in Gweru are already fretting over the period as they fear finding themselves in the old profession’s relegation zone. Amongst sex clients, sleeping with a University student is a huge flex and status symbol. By Michael Gwarisa recently in the Midlands Province  This is also the trend in Zvishavane where the MSU has also established a campus. A few years ago, an MSU official told a parliamentary portfolio committee that Sex Workers from Zvishavane…

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One Bucket Of Maize Equals To One Round Of Sex: COVID-19 Induced Desperation Stalks Rural Sex Workers in Zimbabwe

Michael Gwarisa

THE once thriving profession of sex work has hit rock bottom across the country following a prolonged lockdown period which has seen most public places and beer selling joints being closed for more than a year. By Michael Gwarisa Unlike in the previous period before COVID-19 when sex workers had bargaining power and demand for their services exceeded supply, the COVID-19 induced lockdown has literally made most men realize that family comes first and hiring an escort or sex worker is not a necessity. In the midst of the ongoing…

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Being A Sex Worker Under Zimbabwe’s COVID-19 Induced Lockdwon

Michael Gwarisa

ACCORDING to Zimbabwe’s law, Prostitution is not a crime. However, loitering for the purposes of soliciting for sex is regarded a criminal offense. What is also criminalised is the act of offering one’s services in a public place. By Michael Gwarisa In as much as the law provides some form of relief to sex workers, it however makes it difficult for them to operate since majority of their clients frequent public spots such as roads, intersections, clubs etc and for them to get business, they need to be available physically…

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COVID-19 Affects Condom Distribution…Sex Workers Fear For Lives

Michael Gwarisa

THE Women Against All Forms Of Discrimination (WAAD), an organisation representing rights of sex workers and women has warned of a possible spike in new HIV and Sexually Transmitted Infections during the lockdown period due shortages of condoms and other critical sexual reproductive health (SRH) services. By Michael Gwarisa Speaking to HealthTimes, WAAD Coordinator, Ms Hazel Zemura said the COVID-19 induced lockdown had affected distribution of essential SRH services especially amongst sex workers who have since moved their trade from clubs and bars to the streets and highways where truck…

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50 percent of Sex Workers Report Using HIV Prevention: UNAIDS

Healthtimes

ABOUT 50 percent of sex workers in Zimbabwe reported getting at least two prevention services against HIV in the past three months in 2018, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and Aids (UNAIDS) has said. By Kudakwashe Pembere In the Global Aids Update 2019 report released recently, UNAIDS said the possible  prevention services received included condoms and lubricant, counselling on condom use and safe sex, and testing of sexually transmitted infections. “Despite the availability of a widening array of effective HIV prevention tools and methods—and a massive scale-up of antiretroviral therapy…

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