The 21st century man sees prostitution as normal. The act of trading one’s body for money and other material wealth has been legalised in most parts of the world. However, when a child engages in this trade, then it’s worthy of becoming a global discourse.
 

Gladys is one out the millions of children in sub-Saharan Africa who is living her life as a prostitute. Leaving her hometown to search for greener pastures in the capital Accra, all Gladys was offered was the streets as a home and a baby to look after. ‘I don’t know the whereabouts of his father’ she told me.

Apparently, she had been abandoned by the man who impregnated her, the same man who deceived her that he loved her and had encouraged her into sleeping with other men to sustain them. Consequently, after the baby was born, about a year ago, the only trade Gladys had been taught for survival was prostitution.

She has religiously followed this path so she and her baby will live by the day. As I restrained my tears as this beautiful dark skinned girl narrated her story to me: she sleeps with as many men as she could each day to make a daily wage of GHS35 or $10.

This, to many folks, is common gas money but to Gladys, it’s a pay-off for a rigorous day’s job. Unfortunately for her, the money is sometimes snatched by some of her wicked clients. She added that on three vivid occasions, men had called her to send her or pretended they wanted her to render a helping hand and when she did, she was molested and rapped but all she could do was to cry and later dry her own tears.
 

There are cases that might appear to be more intriguing, like that of two girls ages 12 and 15 who were caught by the police a few days ago in Kumasi. The younger girl having hardly reached full puberty sleeps with 10 to 15 men a day to make GHS75 or more. But as a child, and not knowing on what to spend the money or how to save it, she squanders it all on weed and hard liquor and the high life which her 15-year-old friend and mentor had introduced her to. Ama, another pseudo name was driven from school at prep 1 for failure to pay her fees.

Since then, she has never darkened the school corridors and has since been living with her blind grandmother after she lost her parents. The rate at which Ama is going now, one doesn’t need an astronaut to confirm that sooner or later she’s going to crash.
 

Gladys’ story is however very touching because,  she is mother to a child while she herself still needs the guardian hands of a mother. I’m not certain as to how many girls in her predicament would have handled this situation. She had the quick choice of an abortion and a normal life all over again.

But no, she felt tremendous love for her unborn child and in the midst of all the hardship and emotional turmoil, Gladys chose to hold her baby for nine months in her womb and bring him forth into the world. Gladys is a true epitome of a strong African woman.

My eyes were opened to this reality when she hurriedly averted her attention which I had fully gained to respond to a single cry of her hungry baby boy. I smiled with compassion as I watched her sit her baby on her lap, supporting his back with her left arm while she caressed him and briskly unbuttoned  her blouse with her right hand so she could reach her breast to feed her wanting child.

As I watched Joe draw food from his mother’s nipple, I made a quick enquiry on her health status. Just to know how safe and healthy her breast milk was for her baby. ‘I have epilepsy’ she told me. I was stunned and didn’t know what my next sentence should sound like. ‘Apart from that’, she continued ‘I fall sick sometimes but as to whether I’ve contracted a sexually transmitted disease, I don’t even know’. I swallowed hard at this revelation and tried not to be the one evoking emotions.

Clearly, Gladys had been actively practising unprotected sex. And if anything be wrong with her, her year-old baby will share in on it too. I had a few more concerns about his welfare so I asked her what happened to Joe when she had to serve a client. I got to know that for every time she had a business call, she left her son with a certain woman who sells eggs by the road side and paid her GHS5 when she returned. In my head, I started analysing all the terrible things little Joe is already exposed to at this tender stage. To drift away from the topic until I got something else to say, I casually asked her of her friends. Her intelligence was striking. ‘I don’t have any friends; it’s a dangerous world out there to befriend anybody. Most times I hang around pubs and cinemas and most of the girls usually smoke and drink and get into fights with the men around. I don’t want to be part of any bad company especially for the safety of my son’. Gladys definitely knows what she’s up to and what she wants for her son.  That is exactly why she grabbed the opportunity and spoke up in the media about her case. Not hiding any fundamental aspects of her thrilling story.

As fate may have it, she was rescued by a non – governmental organisation Compassion International. This organization usually offers assistance to under privileged children in terms of providing basic needs for them. Gladys’ case was exceptional and they couldn’t help it but take her in. Daniel, of Compassion International who had been serving as my translator through the interview reiterated that his whole organisation starting from his boss was deeply moved by this girl’s story. And he joined voices with Felicia who is now acting as Gladys guardian to plead with all those charged with the responsibility of protecting children to step up and save the perishing lot out there.

Like every other girl that has dreams and fantasies, Gladys has always wanted to be a singer but she blushed when I asked her to sing. For the first time in our hour long conversation, she stretched her lips to show a smile. As if it was contagious, we all smiled at her. As she spoke her last words, a strange silence swept over the corner where we had been seated. She called out on all young girls who find themselves in the same predicament not to give up in life and see prostitution as the only way out, but to be strong and hold on because God will soon come to their rescue. With these words, I could speak no further but to smile stealthily at her.

There are thousands of such girls on the streets of Africa who are victims of ill circumstances. Child prostitution is on the rampage. Our society is becoming unfriendly each day to children who need help and attention. Unfortunately, prostitution, to them is a last resort.

Many of these children have been denied love and parental care as in the case of Ama. Others just after material wealth which they think they’ve been deprived off. Yet still there are a few more like Gladys who have a plan for their lives.

The problem is becoming perennial and one cannot blame these children for what they are been subjected to but on the society which exposes children to graphics and events that are too matured for their young brains to decipher.

Poverty also has its toll on them – men and women who are supposed to be protecting them, turn out to be the perpetrators who take advantage of the cheap sex and in the process destroy a bright future. The future of the very children we all refer to as leaders of tomorrow. If majority of the supposed leaders of tomorrow have been mentally battered from physical abuse and sour child hood experiences, one might stop to wonder exactly how the world is going to be when time drifts us there.