Coronavirus: Circle, Lapaz and DC sex workers return to work

Commercial sex workers who ply their trade at Circle, Lapaz and Dansoman have returned to work amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s 10th national address on easing restrictions due to Ghana’s COVID-19 situation being milder and not killing people in the hundreds and thousands, as earlier feared saw many Ghanaians including commercial sex workers contented with the new directive.

Kasapafmonline’s lens on Monday evening at Circle, Bigot at Lapaz and Timberland at Dansoman saw many sex workers return to duty after President’s directive.

Interacting with some of the sex workers, they disclosed to Kasapafmonline that the lockdown and restrictions on close contact with each other left them ‘jobless’ and scrambling to survive amid the pandemic.

At Circle, most of the sex workers were seen wearing their nose masks and ensuring the social distance protocol between them and their clients when they are bargaining.

A young lady believed to be in her mid-twenties [20s] and a mother of two kids shared her plight with the News Team at Lapaz.

According to her, the Covid-19 directives halted her prostitution job that brings her income to cater for her two kids.

When asked why she is still in the prostitution business which is illegal and also a risky job with regards to contracting Sexual Transmitted Diseases, she sadly replied that she has tried so many trades but was unsuccessful.

A sex worker at Timberland, Dansoman said though they are aware of the Coronavirus pandemic, they are also careful not to contract the deadly disease.

According to her, they make sure that every client they speak to is wearing the nose mask.

Others say for their own safety, they only recommend hotels and guest houses where infrared or gun thermometers are available.

In Ghana, about 7 out 10 sex workers studied claimed to have begun working as a prostitute after their trading businesses collapsed.

Most prostitutes in Ghana are considered to be either seaters or roamers.

Seaters are a loosely organized group of women who tend to work from a common compound, attracting customers by sitting in the doorway of their rooms. They typically report to an older retired sex worker who settles disputes and raises credit if one of the women must pay a police fine.

Seaters are largely 30-45 years old and work in industrial centres. Roamers, however, tend to be 20-30 years old, work in coastal towns, and are usually better educated.