The whore is despised by the hypocritical world because she has made a realistic assessment of her assets and does not have to rely on fraud to make a living. In an area of human relations where fraud is regular practice between the sexes, her honesty is regarded with a mocking wonder.Prostitutionby Angela Carter1940-1992 British AuthorTo hear many religious people talk, one would think God created the torso, head, legs and arms, but the devil slapped on the genitals. Sexby Don SchraderThe big difference between sex for money and sex for free is that sex for money usually costs less. Sex and Prostitutionby Brendan Francis1985 PlayboyTourism and whorism two terms often used interchangeably when examining the second city are once again topics at the fore. For those who read The Sunday Observer for June 26, 2005 you would have been made aware that the spotlight has been once again placed on Montego Bay where the sex trade is concerned. This may be due the fact that much international pressure has been placed on the island in regards to our tardiness in curbing human trafficking, more commonly known to us as exploitation of children and women, particularly in the sexual arena. The ambiguity of the term aside, one ought to realise that the newly renamed phenomenon of child prostitution is nothing new to the world and here in Jamaica and particularly Montego Bay is nowhere as prolific as it is in the United States where child pornography runs rampant. Child prostitution is wrong wherever it can be found, no doubt, but I can’t help wondering if the local media houses sudden zeal for sighting child prostitution in every nook and cranny was inspired by the barking of the big bad “Uncle Sam.” No doubt, with this spotlight on the tourist capital, there is sure to be an all to cliché spate of rambling and ranting in the media about Montego Bay being the ‘whorism’ centre of the island.
Well if the investigations are true, it would seem the number of women getting too friendly in the friendly city, are not only on the rise but their age is subsequently lowering. The economic logic of entering into “the world’s oldest profession” (and to think they don’t have a union yet) is undeniably easy to see. Firstly in an economic climate where jobs are scarce and the selling of flesh out pays those with a job, the retail of the female genitalia become tempting option to many particularly those that lack the necessary educational background to viably compete on the job market. Secondly in a job where the young are likely to get larger salaries than the veterans in the field/streets (or if the Sunday Observer is right Long and North lane), who really is not going to be tempted by quick money? Third it does not hurt that Montego Bay is easy locale for the earning of foreign exchange and access to foreign clientele.
Montegonians really ought to be used to this played out talk about prostitution in the second city, even with its new “human trafficking” spin. It seems to me that at least once or twice a year when the news slows up and parliament is on a scandal break, Montego Bay becomes canon fodder as it were and some idle editor or reporter dredges up a story on the prostitution scene here. It amazes me that after so many years and so many of these stories, so few of them have added anything substantial to what it is we already know and so few of them have any names, or moving human interest adage that makes it of qualitative relevance. Honestly, prostitution has been apart of MoBay long before most of us were born, older folks will tell you of a time when Fort Street was a haven to ladies of the night. I even remember when the amphitheatre was in front of the KFC on Howard Cooke Boulevard, the throngs of sex seller that flocked their.
Sodom and Gomorrah as MoBay is referred to by the more moral and pious amongst us is no different from any other city or town even. There is no area in the island in which you will not see those black painted buildings with the words exotic, along with some flowers painters in fluorescent or neon colours, usually a red or pinkish hue as well as bright green. This leads me to wonder if the stereotypes that Montego Bay has, tends to cloud or impair the objective lenses of the media. I would also like to know the level of research that went into examining prostitution in Montego Bay. For such an abused and regularly publicized issue, I would like to see more quantitative as well as qualitative evidence.
I would like the Mayor give some response to this, be it a letters to the editors of all media houses, a press release, even a televised address on the community channels, but this bad publicity that the second city is subject to cannot continue indefinitely. If it isn’t bad enough, national newspapers are constantly reminding us that crime is on the rise in Montego Bay and St. James, and if I remember correctly we are now the constituency with the second highest crime rate outside Kingston. If all that is not too much, our Member of Parliament Dr. Chang has also been subject to some negative press. I honestly feel Montego Bay’s plight in terms of crime (of which prostitution is one the last time I checked), our public perception and the morale of the citizens needs immediate address.
Giving prostitution a broader look, I really believe it is about time that it is legalized. If it were legal, we could tax this large income and generate more money for the budget (or some corrupt politician) and ease tax burden. Also we could better control aids, by setting a prostitution regulatory body which could carry out AIDS screening, registering and educating prostitutes (as to how to prevent STDs, use their income and even counselling), and how could I forget, keep out the minors and kids. As with Holland, we could set up red-light districts and keep the sellers of flesh from back alleys where they are even more prone to associate with other crimes or become the victims of crimes. It could keep the women more secure and in control of there lives if we remove the pimps. However all this is just the humble opinion of a simple Montegonian. Till next week, dear reader.
By Yannick Nesta PessoaB.A. in Philosophy
yannickpessoa@gmail.comor
yahnyk@hotmail.com
