The ManicaPost
Ray Bande Senior Reporter
TEACHERS are not sure when they will be able to break the chalk in front of their students again while explaining different academic concepts.
Hairdressers and barber men have almost forgotten how it is like to work on a client’s head in a real salon.
Sports people are not sure when they will showcase their skills again in front of cheering crowds in different stadia across the globe. With recreational facilities closed during the ongoing lockdown, workers in the world’s oldest profession — commercial sex work — are also singing the blues, especially considering that their ‘line of work’ does not bring in income in times like these.
The once-booming industry has suffered a downturn across the world as targeted clients are avoiding physical contact with the ladies of the night. In order to keep their heads above water, some sex workers have devised novel ways of evading law enforcement agents in breach of the lockdown regulations. Some have escaped into the cyber world, investing in mobile phone data to reach out to their clients through social media platforms, while others are driving out to the outskirts in search of the beer outlets that are operating illegally. At such places, lucky commercial sex workers are still managing to hook up with the few available.
Others in Chikanga, Mutare, are lining up the streets soon after sunset in their skimpy outfits.
But despite their desperate efforts, the lockdown has brought sex work to an abrupt halt as law enforcement agents fiercely implement the regulations.
“Things are not going on well for us. I have used up all my savings and it’s getting tough,” said a Chikanga sex worker who only identified herself as Pogba.
“My clients are locked down with their partners and wives at home,” she said.
In South Africa, gospel singer Betusile Mcinga recently came to the rescue of commercial sex workers through sourcing funds to provide relief aid for them.
The award-winning musician, who recently turned 35, used his birthday to encourage friends and family to avail funds for relief aid.
