Prostitution is said to be the oldest profession known to man. The history is not very exact but it is a general belief. Ironically, it is equally seen as the most undignified kind of work and practitioners, especially women, are mocked by society, including those who patronise them. The biblical account of the female brought before Jesus as an adulteress gives a little inkling about the hypocrisy that surrounds illicit sexual encounters. Jesus told the woman to go and sin no more.
It is based on the social norms of the human society that any form of commercial or illicit sex is frowned upon and discouraged by many. Most societies have laws against prostitution but many also legislate in favour of the practice. Commercial sex hawkers practiced locally before modern advancements in travels and immigration. This gave birth to an increase in the scope of commercial sex business. Like all things human, the business has expanded and those making billions of dollars from it have pushed the bar to its limits.
Today, there is a booming commercial sex industry across the world and with it comes all the negative implications including deaths, diseases, exploitation and other dehumanising practices that affect the victims, young or old. These anti-social outcomes have personal, national and global implications. The Nigerian government in 2003 decided to set up a law enforcement agency, National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) to enforce the Act, as well as coordinate and enforce all anti-trafficking legislations, adopting measures for the prevention of trafficking, investigating all cases or trafficking, etc.
NAPTIP was a child of circumstance because there was a global outrage over the number of Nigerians involved in commercial sex business, both willingly and under duress by some merchants in the trade. There are syndicates well-versed in luring both minors and adults, often with phantom promises of jobs overseas. The most affected are the Edo/Delta and South Eastern parts of the country. The establishment of the agency was a way of curtailing and addressing the trafficking in humans that had blossomed over the years. The agency has recorded some successes, yet, the seeming cancer of human trafficking for commercial sex seems to be spreading.
Recently, NAPTIP Director, Training and Manpower Development, Mr. Orakwue Arinze, disclosed that 60% of sex hawkers in Italy are Nigerians. This is despite the fact that the agency had in the past facilitated the repatriation of some sex hawkers who either volunteered to return or were arrested by the authorities. Sixty per cent is a huge number and is blight on the country’s image. These trafficked young ladies are part of the productive demographic of the country.
We are worried by the huge number which might as well be higher because there could be more unofficial numbers, given the illegality of the business. Setting up the agency is good but it would be delusional to assume that it will wave the magic wand and the business will stop. It is a multi-dollar business and there are vested interests in the illicit trade.
We therefore urge the different tiers of government to step in and create jobs, and to educate young ladies about the dangers of choosing the life of commercial sex business. It is not an enduring business because of the danger. Governments must therefore create jobs to absorb the unemployed because, in most cases the ladies resort to it because of lack of economic options.
The Federal Government must actively engage the Italian government to help in stopping the inflow of ladies from Nigeria. There are syndicates across the country involved in the trafficking business and local security agencies must gird their loins too. They must be sought out and decisively dealt with. Economic problem is the main reason most sex hawkers make such choices. Provision of jobs and a pervasive reorientation campaign can help stem the tide. The country loses on all fronts when we allow the illicit business to continue. Let this information about the huge percentage of Nigerian sex hawkers in Italy be the wakeup call for a more pervasive and global fight to stop the trafficking in persons for sex.