A young, deformed girl, apparently in her mid-teens boarded a taxi from Texaco junction returning home at Calaba Town east of Freetown at the peak of the curfew hours.
The girl could not hide her disgruntlement with the curfew since spending the night to get the usual amount that can keep life going is virtually impossible.
Sierra Leone has a large number of girls that eke a living from prostitution, and they make themselves visible in cities and some other urban centres across the country.
A great number hails from humble backgrounds, but others are from well-to-do homes.
But, the most popular argument goes in favour of the notion that the terrible economic situation pushed them in a world where contraction and spread of sexually transmitted infections is commonplace.
It is a world that could hardly be abandoned when one goes into it.
Most prostitutes in brothels, nightclubs, beaches, side-walks are girls between the ages of 14-18.
Prostitution has been used, over the years, as bait for trafficking girls across international borders with fine promises of overseas employment.
Once parachuted in a foreign land, the vulnerable girls are subjected to various forms of abuse including sexual slavery, the most popular abuse.
The causes of adolescent prostitution in Sierra Leone are largely socioeconomic.
Prostitution contributes to the objectification of women and girls, a practice that hardly has a proud place in traditional communities.
A man who pays a woman for sex is convinced that he is immune from prosecution for sexual offences.
The men are clueless that paying a girl to have sex with a woman erases none of the elements of the crimes of rape, sexual penetration, sexual harassment, domestic violence among others.
It is no gainsaying that those women and girls in the world of prostitution suffer various forms of sexual and physical violence in the hands of their clients.
Law enforcement officers have also had a fair share of accusations of sexual violence against prostitutes.
The US Anti-human Trafficking Report and the Human Rights Report both of 2019 lend great credence to the accusations of rapacious inclinations of police officers against prostitutes.
Don Bosco Fambul, a Catholic charitable organisation, run by Salesians working with street kids, young women and girls in situations of prostitution adopted a two-dimensional approach to address the menace of adolescent prostitution.
Don Bosco Fambul adopted the psychosocial approach where social workers conduct counselling and rehabilitation sessions to change the perceptions of the prostitutes.
The counselling services, most times, are effective in changing the lives of prostitutes and making them independent.
The prostitutes could be placed into technical or vocational institutions to acquire skills that will enable them take control of the future.
After completion of the skills training which usually last for almost two years, Don Bosco Fambul provides start-up kits for the reformed women and girls to discourage them from reverting to the morally reprehensible act of of prostitution.
The effects of prostitution are psychological and physical damage of those women and girls who found fortune in it with its ripple effect on the country’s socio-economic standing.
Sierra Leone, according to international reports, has been tagged a transit point for victims of human trafficking solely for the purpose of sexual slavery and exploitation.
The victims of trafficking are mostly daughters of the rural poor. They are brought to urban centres with promises of sending them to good schools and availing them other goodies of city life.
The beautiful promises usually turn to baits as the victims are sent to sweat shops by selling water and other products in the streets, doing domestic chores and other works such as sand and stone mining thus creating opportunities for traffickers.
It is incontrovertible that sex trafficking often occurs in beaches and nightclubs.
The victims are also sexually exploited in fishing communities where they are subjected to either early or forced marriage in the name of cherished customs and traditions.
Don Bosco is trying to discourage the long standing societal menace by sensitising parents, guardians, community stakeholders and potential victims through their outreach programmes.
In its sensitisation campaigns, Don Bosco makes a strong case as to why society should not tolerate the menace of child prostitution in Sierra Leone.
Don Bosco Fambul’s approach to adolescent prostitution is premised on awareness raising programmes in communities through one-on- one engagement between social workers and beneficiaries through the ‘Hope Plus Girls’ Shelters’ and ‘Girls Shelter Plus departments.’ The ‘Hope Plus Department’ is responsible to place the young girls into vocational training centres and find job placement for them after completion of their courses especially those who offer catering courses.
The ‘Hope Plus Department’ also caters for girls wanting to pursue formal education.
The department is paying external fees, extra lessons and university fees for beneficiaries with university requirements.
Don Bosco Fambul has instituted litigations against perpetrators of sexual penetration and other offences of domestic violence, over the years, on behalf of victims.
The faith-based organisation has recorded many success stories once regarded as bottlenecks in the justice system.
The institution has succeeded in changing the lives and stories of young women and girls and transformed them into useful citizens contributing to the socioeconomic development of Sierra Leone.
Don Bosco has also extended its kindness to female inmates in Sierra Leone’s correctional facilities.
The organisation has paid fines of female inmates incarcerated for minor offences thereby restoring their liberty and dignity.
Don Bosco’s kindness do not stop at restoring the freedom and dignity of women as the freed inmates are given seed money to engage on small-scale business that can create a positive turn-around in their lives.
Start-up kits are also provided by the organisation for those who are trained in skilled jobs such as hair dressing and tailoring.
Don Bosco Fambul has contributed significantly to the human capital development of Sierra Leone.
The organisation has secured acreages of land at the Freetown peninsula, along the Waterloo-Tombo highway where it has constructed ultra-modern edifices hosting beneficiaries.
Thus, Don Bosco Fambul calls for the support of government and citizens of Sierra Leone for a brighter future.
CREDIT: Don Bosco PR Department