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Walter Mswazie recently in Chiredzi 

Ms Juliet Mada (46) of Chiredzi’s Tshovani Township is an HIV-positive divorced mother of two with sex work experience spanning 30 years.

Losing both parents at the tender age of 10 years meant that Juliet would not proceed with her education. Relatives took over her care but she could not go beyond Form Two and as fate would have it, she was married at the age of 16 to a much older man.

Speaking to journalists during a National Aids Council (Nac) tour at Chiredzi’s Poly Clinic, Juliet who is also known as Aunt Mada said for her, being a sex worker was not out of love for many partners. 

It was a decision she took after some serious soul searching coupled with the desire to fend for her children who had been neglected by their father.

The man, she said, was abusive and neglected her but she soldiered on as someone who respected marriage. Juliet said by the time she was 18, she already had two children.

By the time she had her second child, her husband had married a second wife.

This did not go down well with Juliet so she packed her bags and went to live away from the abusive man she called her husband.

She said it was when living alone that she decided to get involved in sex work but would alternate the ancient profession with vending so as to augment her earnings.

In 2014, she said, Nac working in conjunction with CERSHA, introduced a programme which mobilised sex workers into peer educators.

Peer educators were meant to help fellow sex workers appreciate safer sex, seeking early treatment of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and adherence to treatment for those on antiretrotherapy.

She was selected to be the leader and together with her group comprising more than 20 members, all sex workers embarked on awareness raising campaigns visiting all HIV and STI hot spots in the sugar producing town.

“We received training on how to collect data and mobilise sex workers so that they know their HIV status through testing, seeking early treatment of STIs and provide them with condoms,” said Juliet.

“According to my register, we now have over 1 000 members, all sex workers. We have both HIV positive and HIV negative members that we educate on the importance of condom use. We also encourage the use of pre-exposure prophylaxis to those who think they can be exposed to infection,” she said.

Juliet said from the time sex workers were involved in raising awareness, there has been a remarkable decrease in STI incidence in Chiredzi and attributed this to their efforts.

“A total of 108 people that also include sex workers are treated of STIs at local health centres in Chiredzi every month. However, from 2014 when we started, incidence of STIs has been reduced from an alarming figure of 1 500 per quarter to 800 cases per quarter,” she said.

The reduction of STI incidence was evidence that sex workers were doing a great job in fighting contraction of sexually transmitted infections including HIV.

The peer educator who also disclosed that she contracted HIV from sex work, is on ART and is convinced that if the programme was spread throughout the country, significant strides could be made in the fight against HIV.

She said they were also involved in raising awareness on the importance of screening for cervical cancer at health centres as well as improving communication skills of sex workers.

This, she said, is done to help sex workers stand their ground when clients want to abuse them as well as encourage them to initiate safer sex.

Some clients would dangle a carrot, flashing more money for unprotected sex but a responsible sex worker should refuse the offer, she said, and maintain the use of condoms.

“We also encourage our members to go for screening for cervical cancer as it is also a deadly disease these days. Some of the trainings include communication skills to help sex workers negotiate safe sex and also charge sustainable fees for their services, as it is a profession,” she said, adding that while they were enjoying peer education work, they met some challenges especially with young girls who are found at the same “hunting grounds” as the veterans.

“Our favourite hunting grounds are Chigarapasi Beer Hall here in Tshovani and Labamba Bottle Store in Chiredzi Town. This is where we meet girls as young as young as 14 years, especially when there are musical shows. Most of them are stubborn and don’t listen to our teachings.

“They don’t even accept our condoms, accusing the veteran sex workers of being jealous of their tender ages. They compete with us and most of them are ignorant and have unprotected sex or offer free sex,” she said.

She continued: “These young girls are euphemistically referred to as “mabhero manew one” (new bales) and clients normally stampede to have a feel of them becausethey are young. This will be pure abuse and we sometimes engage police to arrest them. 

“Another challenge is that these children charge pathetic prices with some selling sex for a plate of sadza and we see that as sabotage, as we have families to look after. Our normal charges are $50 for a quickie and between $100 and $150 for the night depending on the day of the month.”

Sex work is not leisure, she said. 

“I don’t have reason to enjoy this. I mean business and I’ll do everything to ensure that the client is entertained. I would want to engage as many clients as possible per night so that I can maximise on profit. Those clients who are gifted below the belt will pay more because naturally, they take a longer time before they are done.”

She said while she has not yet hung her boots, she rarely solicits for transactional sex nowadays. 

“My age no longer allows me to compete with younger sex workers so I now preoccupy myself with vending without going to the beer hall unless a client comes to my base. I make sure I give my clients a decent package. Before sleeping with a man, I take him through some lessons on safe sex, early treatment of STls, adherence to those on ART, among other sex education. So those who come to me will definitely receive double portion, which is sex plus education.”

District Aids Coordinator (DAC) Mr Peter Nyakudya hailed the peer educators saying they were instrumental in reducing the incidence of HIV which stood at 14 percent in the district.

“Our statistics have shown that there has been a drastic decrease of incidence of STIs since involving sex workers in peer education. We’re already accruing benefits from their activities, as they even continue with awareness raising during engagements with clients,” said Mr Nyakudya.

“Reducing incidence of STIs from 1 200 to 800 is no mean achievement,” he said.

Mr Nyakudya said the health seeking behaviour of sex workers had also improved and the peers shared important information with a high degree of openness.

Nac spokesperson Mrs Tadiwa Pfupa-Nyatanga said engaging sex workers in managing HIV and Aids had a positive impact on reducing new infections and stigma.

“More and more sex workers are coming in the open with positive messages that help the country fight the disease. The fact that they’re coming together and share information about their health has demystified their profession.  They are part of a key population that needs information on HIV and how to reduce its prevalence,” said Mrs Pfupa-Nyatanga.

She said Nac and other partners wish to scale up such programmes until everyone has information on how to reduce incidence of infection in line with the 90-90-90 target which seeks to reduce by 90 percent HIV-related deaths, new infections and stigma.

The country has a 13,7 percent HIV prevalence rate while Masvingo District stands at 12 percent with the worst affected district being Chiredzi at 14 percent.