Menu

'Dum-sor' bad for sex business – Prostitutes

Prostitutes  Ghana PoliceFile photo

Mon, 8 Dec 2014 Source: Weekend Sun Newspaper

Prostitutes in Accra have described the selling of sexual favours in the current atmosphere of erratic load-shedding as “hopeless”.
Their fear is that the current energy crisis will leave a lasting negative impact on the sex trade, the oldest profession in the tourism industry.
Twelve senior night crawlers stationed in prestigious hotels/brothels in parts of Accra bemoaned their situation as Weekend Sun sampled their opinion on the effect of dum-so on business.
In all, a total of 32 commercial sex workers took part in the research. The question was simple: how do the erratic power outages affect your business? The overwhelming response was that they felt the frequent blackouts caused immense frustration with sourcing, clinching deals, execution and following up.
According to ladies who ply their trade at Toppers, a popular brothel at St. John’s near Dome in Accra, they are gradually losing customers “since most of the guys simply don’t wanna ‘tonga’ in a dark room.
“And I do understand them, because nobody will feel comfortable to have vigorous sex in the heat that invades the rooms when there’s dum-sor.
For instance, if he wants to go for marathon, like all-night sex orgy, how do you do it in the heat? You can just imagine how the two of you will be sweating profusely without a fan,” explains Afia Gloria, a light-skinned sex worker with an ample, protruding backside.
At Saint John’s, respondents say the problem starts with getting the client.
“From where we stand, the dum-so means you can’t see anything on the street; the customers cannot see what we look like. Why would they bother to come?” asks Joyce, 19, who says she entered the sex trade recently.
“And even if we manage with some effort to get one, he is unwilling to ac­company you to a dark room some­where for short-time, let alone a full night of ‘tonga’,” added Abiba, 23, who walks the same beat with Joyce.
Some of their clients, they noted, are noblemen, ministers, Members of Parliament, and business tycoons who would want to enjoy illicit sex in a conducive environment which can help them cool off.
“The all-night marathon is good for us because the men can do only so much. And then we get to sleep. If there’s no electricity, there is no com­fort; just hardship,” Abiba explained.
Afia Gloria, knuckles on her large posterior, says she hates the dark nights.
“I find myself in an emotional frenzy when the dum-sor comes,” confides the Saint John’s prostitute. “Night is a hateful agent with its accompanying social vices like armed robbery and serial killing of women. These things scare me. And I know the men are also scared. So, it throws our business out of balance, and makes everything basaa,” Afia Gloria says.
At La Paz Bigot where hundreds of beautiful young ‘working’ ladies ply the streets all day propositioning horny hard-working migrant men, the complaints about the effects of dum-sor are similar to the observations of their counterparts at Dome Saint John’s. Here, the pressing problems are with getting clients to come back after they have strayed to new territories.
“The patronage has reduced drasti­cally, and there is a sharp drop in income as fewer people are coming, there’s more night crimes, and other so­cial factors associated with the frequent power blackouts just don’t help us,” complains Aaliyaa, 36, originally from Liberia.
“When I first came here 14 years ago, business was good. We were over 120 girls in this area, but business was good. The lights were always on. Or at least you knew when they were going to be off. You knew everyone. Some of the men we gave us sex on credit; some we called ‘pre-paid’ because they left money and came by whenever they felt like having sex.
“These days, we are only 59 offi­cially, and it’s all gone crazy. It is crazy because we don’t earn enough to give them some sex on credit; they don’t earn enough to pay in advance; and the competition from the school girls all over the place is getting ridiculous,” laments Aaliyaa. “Men are screwing locally these days because the power outage is keeping them nearer their homes.

Prostitutes in Accra have described the selling of sexual favours in the current atmosphere of erratic load-shedding as “hopeless”.
Their fear is that the current energy crisis will leave a lasting negative impact on the sex trade, the oldest profession in the tourism industry.
Twelve senior night crawlers stationed in prestigious hotels/brothels in parts of Accra bemoaned their situation as Weekend Sun sampled their opinion on the effect of dum-so on business.
In all, a total of 32 commercial sex workers took part in the research. The question was simple: how do the erratic power outages affect your business? The overwhelming response was that they felt the frequent blackouts caused immense frustration with sourcing, clinching deals, execution and following up.
According to ladies who ply their trade at Toppers, a popular brothel at St. John’s near Dome in Accra, they are gradually losing customers “since most of the guys simply don’t wanna ‘tonga’ in a dark room.
“And I do understand them, because nobody will feel comfortable to have vigorous sex in the heat that invades the rooms when there’s dum-sor.
For instance, if he wants to go for marathon, like all-night sex orgy, how do you do it in the heat? You can just imagine how the two of you will be sweating profusely without a fan,” explains Afia Gloria, a light-skinned sex worker with an ample, protruding backside.
At Saint John’s, respondents say the problem starts with getting the client.
“From where we stand, the dum-so means you can’t see anything on the street; the customers cannot see what we look like. Why would they bother to come?” asks Joyce, 19, who says she entered the sex trade recently.
“And even if we manage with some effort to get one, he is unwilling to ac­company you to a dark room some­where for short-time, let alone a full night of ‘tonga’,” added Abiba, 23, who walks the same beat with Joyce.
Some of their clients, they noted, are noblemen, ministers, Members of Parliament, and business tycoons who would want to enjoy illicit sex in a conducive environment which can help them cool off.
“The all-night marathon is good for us because the men can do only so much. And then we get to sleep. If there’s no electricity, there is no com­fort; just hardship,” Abiba explained.
Afia Gloria, knuckles on her large posterior, says she hates the dark nights.
“I find myself in an emotional frenzy when the dum-sor comes,” confides the Saint John’s prostitute. “Night is a hateful agent with its accompanying social vices like armed robbery and serial killing of women. These things scare me. And I know the men are also scared. So, it throws our business out of balance, and makes everything basaa,” Afia Gloria says.
At La Paz Bigot where hundreds of beautiful young ‘working’ ladies ply the streets all day propositioning horny hard-working migrant men, the complaints about the effects of dum-sor are similar to the observations of their counterparts at Dome Saint John’s. Here, the pressing problems are with getting clients to come back after they have strayed to new territories.
“The patronage has reduced drasti­cally, and there is a sharp drop in income as fewer people are coming, there’s more night crimes, and other so­cial factors associated with the frequent power blackouts just don’t help us,” complains Aaliyaa, 36, originally from Liberia.
“When I first came here 14 years ago, business was good. We were over 120 girls in this area, but business was good. The lights were always on. Or at least you knew when they were going to be off. You knew everyone. Some of the men we gave us sex on credit; some we called ‘pre-paid’ because they left money and came by whenever they felt like having sex.
“These days, we are only 59 offi­cially, and it’s all gone crazy. It is crazy because we don’t earn enough to give them some sex on credit; they don’t earn enough to pay in advance; and the competition from the school girls all over the place is getting ridiculous,” laments Aaliyaa. “Men are screwing locally these days because the power outage is keeping them nearer their homes.

Source: Weekend Sun Newspaper