Liberia: Child prostitutes sleep in graveyards to keep themselves safe

Monrovia, Liberia: In a desperate bid to stay safe, child prostitutes in Liberia are now reportedly turning to graveyards to spend their nights.

Liberia, a country in West Africa, that is yet to recover from the civil strife that ended 14-years ago, is faced with a new dilemma, as increasing number of girls between the age group of 11-12 are taking up sex work for survival.

The practice of paid underage sex is a sad carryover of the civil strife, when young girls became ‘girlfriends’ of fighters who could get them food or other goods, reported Metro.

The children who do not have any help to turn to, spend their nights in clawed-out graves to stay alive and reveal a distressing environment rife with rampant drug abuse and risky sexual encounters amidst rising healthcare worries of TB and Aids among others, all for a paltry sum of approximately Rs 120.  

“I’ve been sleeping here in the graveyard for five years. There is no other option, my parents both died after the civil war. There was nobody to protect or look after me. It is safe in here, in the tombs, where nobody dare come to hurt us,” 16-year-old Princess Chea, who is one of those who ‘cut jopu’ or hustle, told Metro.

Recounting her ordeal, Chea elaborated, “I’ve been working as a prostitute for six years now. I am not happy at all, but I have nobody to turn to. Every day I sleep with up to 10 older men.”

She added that she was lucky not to get pregnant and revealed that the only thing she could do when the country was threatened with ebola was to pray and carry on. “I am not afraid of Aids because hopefully God will protect me,” she said.

But despite her struggles, Chea has hope, saying, “I smoke cocaine to take away the pain while praying every single day that I can one day leave my grave and perhaps even go to school.”