PROVIDING EASY ACCESS TO HEALTHCARE TO TEENAGE SEX WORKERS
Giving attention to vulnerable groups and key populations needs to be a major priority for societies who are concerned about providing equitable improvement in health for all including minority populations. These minority populations include commercial sex workers, Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) people, prisoners and drug addicts. There are so many limitations which hinder the attention given to people who fall in this category and in most cases, they are not only marginalized but ostracized by most societies.
In Ghana, commercial sex workers like other key populations are consequently shunned leaving them more likely to have limited access to health information and care which includes the risks of contracting sexually transmitted infections. This is mostly because sex work is illegal in Ghana and also unacceptable in most societies. You may not agree with the need to look out for them because your values are strongly against sex work but keep reading.
What implications does this have on the health of commercial sex workers, especially children and teenagers who by no fault of theirs, find themselves in the trade?
To find some answers, I set out to ‘Railway’, an area at the Kwame Circle in Accra to find some answers. I interacted with some teenage sex workers to find out their journey in commercial sex work and how they protect themselves from Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) and other diseases.
Then I met Hope....
Nineteen year old Hope (pseudonym) is a Junior High School drop-out and a mother of one. She got pregnant at age twelve and gave birth to her son who is now seven years old. She left her child with her family and set out to find greener pastures.
Today, Hope works as a commercial sex worker at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle to eke out a living. She was introduced to the trade by a friend who decided not to help her anymore with money and other
Today, Hopes sleeps with about fifteen men each night in order to raise at least One Hundred and Fifty Cedis (GH150.00). She explained; “Here at Circle, the prices are not high. We charge either ten or fifteen Ghana cedis per shot (per customer). Most of them pay ten cedis, so in order to get one hundred and fifty cedis at the end of the night, I need to sleep with at least fifteen men.”
When questioned how she protects herself from STI’s Hope said she insists on using a condom even though she admits some of her colleagues do not mind sleeping with clients without a condom. According to her, she feels safe by using a condom.
“The condoms are given to us by the people who rent make-shift rooms out to us. They charge us two Ghana Cedis per customer, and give us condoms wrapped in toilet roll as part of the package” she said.
Bless is just one of hundreds of girls who sleep with men for money. Unlike her, many other girls are not fully aware of the risks involved in having unprotected sex especially with multiple partners. This emphasizes the need to promote initiatives and projects with the primary aim of making people like Hope have access to quality health-care. In essence, it gives key populations easy access to quality information on health, improved access to health care and the ability to make informed reproductive health choices. This will also create a responsive environment to address their health concerns for a a general improvement in their health status.
In other words, if key populations such as sex workers are given the necessary education, they will be empowered to join majority groups to demand accountability on how resources allocated to improve the health of citizens are utilized. Mainly because the health system is a key component of societal systems which need to be made more friendly to minority groups.
With increasing concerns by sex workers on the rate at which they are stigmatized even at some health centers, there is a possible drawback in the fight against Sexually Transmitted Infections and other consequential effects of unregulated sexual behavior. In 2016, there were reports that some sex workers in the Adansi-Obuasi constituency of the Ashanti Region of Ghana were demanding as a matter of urgency that government decriminalizes sex work. This goes to prove how ‘sexual minorities’ in the country seek the attention of decision makers in other to make policies friendly to their needs. Also, recognizing that sexual minorities including sex workers face setbacks such as discrimination and limited access to resources on health can be the beginning of more pro-minority health projects and policies.
It may be difficult for young children who unfortunately find themselves in commercial sex work to have access to ‘judgment-free’ health assistance. Even though there are Non Governmental Organizations and bodies to assist in this regard, it is equally imperative to recognize the difficulty for children to open up and explain their real situation to health professionals due to fear of neglect or rejection. For teenage sex workers, it is almost frightening to share their reality with their parents and family members for fear of being ostracized.
Commercial Sex must not be endorsed, but people especially children in the trade need to be protected. We need to embrace them, listen and make it easy for them to ask for help. This should be applied to other minority groups such as prisoners and drug addicts. We need to give people like Hope a chance to safe and accessible health-care for a better life because a health- care system can only be holistic if it cares for minority groups.
