DIFFICULTIES OF BEING A SEX WORKER VOLUME
CHANTEL
44
My friend is a mother of two and is a sex worker. She came all the way from Zimbabwe to Johannesburg to look for a job so that she could look after her kids. When she arrived in Johannesburg, South Africa she tried to find a job but there was no job and so she decided to do prostitution. Things were okay at first and she was managing to send money to her kids buying everything like clothes, groceries, money for school fees, etc. Then one day when she was going home after sex work she met a guy who was driving a silver car and the guy asked her where she was going and if she was on business. She told the guy that she was going home but if he also to do business it was fine. She entered the car and the guy drove off after a few seconds and the guy asked her where does she come from and she told him that she is from Zimbabwe. The guy started insulting her saying, “so you come all the way from Zim to come and do prostitution here in our country? So today you are going to see. I will show you today”. She became scared because of what the guy said and he drove away towards Soweto. When they were on the road, she decided to jump from the moving car. When she jumped she was not hurt and she just started running and the guy followed her and hit her with the car and she fell down. He came out of the car and started beating and raping her. After raping her the guy took out a cloth and put it in her mouth and after thinking that she’s dead he left the place. She spent the whole night in the bush until the morning. That’s when she saw someone passing and cried for help. That was when the police and the ambulance came and took her to the hospital with the bruises all over her body and a broken leg and hip.
Being a sex worker is not like you are not a human being. A sex worker is a mother who left kids at home and trying to put food on the table for them.
Self Portrait
VOLUME
44
2
1
3
4
1. When arriving in Jozi I saw nice buildings in town. 2. Crutches that my friend had to use after being attacked. 3. She’s had to use two crutches but now she can walk 100 meters without using them. 4. This is a building where sex workers used to attend to their clients. This is where I started to do sex work when I first arrived in Johannesburg. The building has since been closed by the Metro Police but only after losing some of my friends there. 5. Looking for clients. 6. You end up with broken bones after being abused by your clients. 7. Options to earn money. 8. At night, when it’s cold outside we light a fire to warm ourselves. 5
6
CHANTEL 7
8