Traditionally, the streets have always been the home for most commercial sex workers in Ghana.

These midnight workers usually lurk enticingly on the shoulders of the roads to attract prospective clients.

For those who don't like the publicity that comes with standing by the streets, they often sit at vantage points in bars and pubs to transact their businesses.

However in recent times, technology and digitalisation appear to have had a sweeping impact on this trade of orgasm; making it a more convenient adventure.

Away from the open streets and pubs, prostitutes now operate remotely from the comfort of their homes in a more relaxed enterprise known as 'hookups'.

Now this is how hookups typically operate. In a hookup system, the service provider (the prostitute) does not need to physically reveal her oiled cleavage or expose her thighs in public to get the attention of a man.

Instead of sensual public displays, she simply builds an online profile, which contains content, good enough to arouse the lustful cravings of a prospective client.

Such content may include her twerking videos, faceless clips of her nipples and other sensual material, capable of getting a man hard enough to give her a phone call.

Where do they keep these content? Tinder is one of the platforms where this trade occurs.

Even though the app is generally an avenue for making friends and platonic social interactions, some find it a fertile ground to ply their hookup trade.

As a result, they use the platform to negotiate all their deals. Others leverage platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat and even Instagram to run the sex business. This they believe is safer than the streets where they are more exposed to robbers, ritualists and the Police.

It is even asserted that sometimes when the Policemen arrest some of these prostitutes on the streets, they make demands in order to release them.

The truth or otherwise I cannot tell. However, it may account for why the hookup system has now gained prominence.

Apart from using social media platforms, hookups can also take the form of a motherly figure, who assembles a group of young girls and dishes out their contact to clients who call her on phone or WhatsApp.

In this approach, the hookup girl does not get the liberty to independently negotiate her charges. Rather, it is done by her mistress who dictates where she should go and whom she should satisfy at what time.

This system is administratively centralised and is run by a seasoned practitioner who does the recruitment of the ladies and schedules their daily 'disbursements'.

Once the clients reach her with their specifications, she does the 'delivery' accordingly.

But how much does a typical hookup girl charge for her services? The price range of hookups can be likened to the way shoes are sold at Kantamanto, and how those same shoes are priced differently in boutiques.

At Kantamanto, a leading footwear market in Accra, a pair of shoes may go for ¢200. However, that same pair, if elevated and displayed on the shelf of a boutique can cost thrice the 'street price' of ¢200.

It is usually perceived that, the boutique has more esteem than the 'ordinary street', hence the huge price variations. This same principle apparently applies to how hookups charge for their services.

Whereas a sex worker by the roadside may charge less, those online (hookups), can charge huge amounts as compensation for their services. Now what services do they render at all? And how do they go about it?

Hookups services are split into two; long and short.

In this latest extension of prostitution, where ladies offer their sexual services through online mediums, the lady in question negotiates the terms of her service with her prospective client prior to her arrival.

On her arrival, she proceeds to offer all her services as agreed. This may include blow jobs, handjobs or other acts within the same realm of sexual services.

The short service typically includes a brief moment of sexual intercourse, where the transaction expires after the man ejaculates. On the other hand, the long service spans deep into the night. This subsequently accounts for a price variation.

Another interesting twist to this trade is that, some of the practitioners are unemployed girls or students who are struggling to pay their way through school. Being online and trading their bodies for money is therefore a convenient survival option.

With the increase in sexually transmitted infections, their jobs have become even more risky. Even though many of them insist on the use of condoms, there is still a marginal threat of infection.

The question stands; will the practice be over or gain more roots amidst the harsh economic conditions? Should prostitution also be abolished in its entirety or lawmakers should regulate it?

The author of this piece is a writer, a corporate MC and a broadcast journalist by name Paa Kwesi Schandorf.

Currently, he works with The Multimedia Group in Accra. You can reach him on (+233) 273141821 or derrick.ayirebi-acquah@myjoyonline.com