A married 33-year-old woman from Macheke, Mashonaland East province, has turned into commercial sex work to raise her tuition fees, putting her life, marriage, and that of children at risk.
The mother of two said she had since turned to target truck drivers plying the Harare-Mutare highway in transit to neighbouring Mozambique in a bid to raise US$500 per semester at the Women’s University in Africa (WUA) where she is studying.
She said her wish is to start an income-generating project that can sustain her and her small family and quit sex work she says was her last and only option left.
Speaking to NewZimbabwe.com during a recent media tour to Mashonaland East province that was organised by the National AIDS Council (NAC), the woman said:
I am a student and I am also into sex work. I am also a mother, I have got a husband.
The challenge that is there is the issue of university fees which I pay in United States dollars.
The issue of tuition forced me into sex work because my unemployed husband does piece jobs in South Africa.
He earns little money, and, therefore, can’t even afford to look after us or pay for my fees.
She also revealed that she currently owed her university nearly US$1 000 in unpaid fees and had doubts if she could enrol for her industrial attachment scheduled during the next semester.
The woman said her husband doesn’t know that she is into sex work and at times she pleads with her parents to lie that they have paid for her fees. She added:
Sex work is a risky business. One day I know I might even get caught by my husband and it will not end well. I really need to stop sex work and lead a normal life.
I still love my husband and my family. Leaving my kids behind every day, locking them inside the house stresses me a lot. It’s not an easy job.