By George M.O. Williams
The mentor and ‘Mammy Queen’ of a group of commercial sex workers at Lumley, Hawa Bangura has told Premier News that their asking prices have gone up to a minimum of NLe 70 from NLe 30 because of the current economic hardship and the hike in prices of basic commodities.
However, she maintained that their increased prices are negotiable.
To ascertain the fact about the change in price, Premier News Reporter went undercover to verify the increase in the minimum price asked for by commercial sex workers, by posing as a client on two separate occasions at the said location.
The sex workers in response stuck to their new prices.
Hawa, a single mother, says giving sex for money is her only means of survival and financing her son.
“My son will resume school in a week’s time. I have to buy him school going materials like bags, books among others items, which are very expensive now,” she said.
She reports that the increase in their asking prices has caused a fall in the number of customers she transacts with per night because of the new price as they are used to paying NLe 30 per session. “Many of them negotiate the prices,” she said.
In soliciting the service of a commercial sex work in a whatsapp group where members ask for and give sex for money, Mariam Turay (not her real name) who stayed in Grassfield in Kissy requests for NLe 350 instead of Nle 250 she used to ask for months ago.
When asked why the new prices, She responded that considering the distance and the transportation cost from Grassfield to Lumley and the current hardships by general increase in prices, she was minded to increase her asking prices or else she would not have been able to meet the ends for which she works as a sex worker.
It has been observed that most young girls involved in commercial sex work to meet their personal welfare.
Most women said that they engaged in sex work to care for their families: children, parents and siblings. They regularly send money to their families, and the amount of money they send depends on how much they earn.
In Freetown, the capital city of Sierra Leone, Aberdeen/Lumley Beach is the hub of the commercial sex trade. The long stretch of the beachfront and its environs, with dozens of hotels, guesthouses and entertainment spots like beach bars, restaurants and gyms offer the setting and an atmosphere of social interaction for the sex trade to thrive.