Following the release of a report by the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA), ranking Anambra State as the fifth highest in terms of Persons Living with HIV (PLWHIV) in Nigeria, residents of the state believe the state government and the leadership of various communities should launch a crackdown on brothels and other facilities harbouring prostitutes in the communities.
According to the residents, the sex trade going on at the brothels was a major reason for the surge in the number of persons with HIV in the state.
Recall that the NACA report had pegged Anambra State at fifth place on the HIV prevalence log, with 100,429 cases.
According to a health worker in Mgbakwu, Awka North Council Area of the state, Sabina Owoh, the numerous activities going on at brothels, especially the use of underage girls for commercial sex, are a major contributor to the rising figure.
Owoh regretted that it appeared as if the government had no form of regulation whatsoever for the brothels, even as she said they also peddle drugs within the facilities.
“In Mgbakwu here, there is a notorious brothel here, where you have all kinds of young and underage girls hawking sex. The import is that these small girls, many of whom end up getting unwanted pregnancies, sexually-transmitted diseases, and HIV, also have sexual relationships with other younger boys in the community.
“So, you see that it is a vicious cycle because you would hardly know that these underage girls have been exposed to these kinds of unprotected sex,” she lamented.
The health worker said the government should begin to enforce some kind of regulation in the operations of the brothels, to ensure that only adults or young girls who have attained the age of consent would be found there.
A resident of Awka, Chibuzor Ifedigbo, who expressed worry over the development, concurred that the proliferation of brothels and prostitutes’ houses in the state spiked the numbers, emphasizing that parents are also responsible.
Acknowledging the hardship in the country, he, however, said parents should not abandon their underage daughters to their fate but should work even harder to fend for their children.
“Today, you see all kinds of young girls doing all kinds of work that exposes them to sexual exploitation. These are children who should be either in school or under the tutelage of their parents, but are left by their parents to do all kinds of work that is not meant for children.
”They hawk all kinds of goods even till midnight at very odd places, where they are at risk of being raped or deceived for sexual exploitation.
“So, I believe parents should stop exposing their children. And the government should also ensure that any child caught in such unwholesome activity, their parents are arrested and prosecuted,” he suggested.
For his part, a social affairs analyst, Okezie Onowu suggested increased awareness of the dangers of unprotected sex and the illicit sex trade as a way forward.
He called on religious denominations to emphasize the need for sound morals among youths, while schools should create clubs that promote chastity and abstinence in students.
In his words, “Even the sex workers should not be left out. The message of embracing wholesome living should be taken to even the brothels. Who knows? Many of them may be there because no one has spoken to them about the dangers of the kind of life they are living.
“They may hear the message and change for the better.”
