更少的羞辱 更多的竞争

Decriminalising the sex trade in Zimbabwe
津巴布韦性-交易非罪化

Less stigma, more competition
更少的羞辱 更多的竞争

Jan 7th 2017 | HARARE2017年1月7日哈拉雷

IT IS midnight at a shopping centre in Hopley, a poor suburb east of Harare. Masceline, an orphaned 15-year-old, stands in the darkness. Her aim is to find a client. But she also wants to avoid getting beaten up by older prostitutes who resent the competition she represents.在哈拉雷东部贫穷郊区Hopley一个购物中心，15岁的孤儿Masceline站在午夜的黑暗中,希望接到一个客户。由于深受年长妓女同行们的反感，Masceline希望不要被她们殴打。

Zimbabwe’s Constitutional Court ruled in 2015 that the police could not arrest women for prostitution. At first, sex workers cheered. No more would they be dragged to police stations and shaken down for bribes to avoid six-month jail terms. It was a relief, too, for the many other women whom the cops used to arrest just for walking alone at night or drinking in a pub.津巴布韦宪法法院2015年裁定，禁止警方逮捕卖淫妇女。起初，性工作者对此欢呼不已。她们再也不会被拖到警局，为逃避为期6个月的监禁进行行贿。对于其他许多女性来说，这也是一种解脱，因为警察过去常常在晚间抓捕独自行走或在酒吧喝酒的女性。

Yet there was a catch. Tambudzai Mikorasi, a 40-year-old sex worker, says she may have celebrated too early. Now that the oldest profession has been decriminalised, a flood of young women and girls are joining it and driving down prices. (Jobs of any kind are scarce thanks to Robert Mugabe’s disastrous management of the economy.)然而，这存在一个问题。一位40岁的性工作者Tambudzai Mikorasi表示，她可能庆祝地为时过早。现在，这份古老的职业已非罪化，大量年轻妇女和女孩的涌入致使价格压低。（穆加贝对经济的灾难性管理致使难以找到任何工作。）

Some veterans have responded by hiring thugs to protect their turf. In return, the men can have sex whenever they want. “We have no option,” says Ms Mikorasi, her muscles flexing as she pulls down her miniskirt. “It has never been this bad. These little girls are pushing us out of business.” Malaika Chatyoka, a 37-year-old, complains that the fee she can charge has slumped from $10 for 30 minutes to as little as $2 on some nights. The price for a full night is down to $10, one fifth of what she used to charge.对此，有些经验丰富的妓女会雇佣暴徒来保护地盘。作为回报，被雇佣的男人可随时同她们上床。现在，Mikorasi在脱迷你裙时要费力伸缩肌肉。她说：“我们没有选择，境况从未如此糟糕。这些小女孩正让我们失业。”37岁的Malaika Chatyoka抱怨说，她的收费标准从30分钟10美元下跌到某些晚上的2美元。包夜的价格降到了10美元，是她过去收费的1/5。

Police raids used to scare away competitors. “Only the brave remained on the streets. Now it’s free-for-all,” says 25-year-old Sazini Ngwenya from Bulawayo. She adds that without the police paying attention there has been an increase in robberies and rape.警察过去通常发动突袭吓跑一些竞争对手。“只有勇敢的女性才留在街上。现在人人可以站街，”来自布拉瓦约的25岁的Sazini Ngwenya说。她补充说，没有警方的关注，抢劫和强奸事件一直在增加。

Faced with a slumping economy Zimbabweans are so desperate that, for many, even cut-price sex work seems like the least-bad option. “With no education, faced with the responsibility to fend for their siblings and/or their own children, many girls and young women are being forced to sell sex for survival,” laments Talent Jumo, a director of the Katswe Sistahood, a charity. With no sign of an economic recovery, many more girls could be forced onto the streets, she says.面对低迷的经济，津巴布韦民众深感绝望，对许多人来说，即使降价的性工作似乎也是最不坏的选择。“由于没受过教育，还要担负照顾兄弟姐妹和/或者孩子的责任，许多女孩和年轻妇女被迫以卖淫为生，”慈善机构Katswe Sistahood的负责人Talent Jumo悲叹道。她还表示，没有经济复苏的迹象，更多女孩可能被迫去上街。

For Masceline, the need to put food on the table for her family means she will continue renting out her body. “Everything I face here is better than going hungry or watching my baby sister drop out of school,” she says hurriedly, as a potential client approaches.对Masceline而言，要将食物放到家人的桌上就意味着要继续出卖自己的肉体。在一位潜在客户走近时，她慌忙说道：“我在这里所遭受的一切都比挨饿或眼睁睁看着我妹妹辍学更好。”