How sex workers leave ‘customers’ in tears, broke

Dar es Salaam. Prostitution is one of the oldest and most illegal businesses across the globe.

The illegal business has been evolving from time to time in different countries across the globe including Tanzania just to escape the long hand of legal.

That can be justified by the changing faces of prostitution in the country from prostitutes standing beside the roads in the streets at mid-nights to new approaches.

New approaches include using social media platforms such as Instagram, WhatsApp, and Telegram to name a few, to negotiate with their customers.

Some prostitutes go further to rent rooms and houses, having auctioneers to bring them some customers and share the revenues, some of them turn lodges, guest houses, and hotels into their offices. Also, recently employees and entrepreneurs have reported to enter the business.

One of the main reasons why this business never dies is customers seem to be aware of the changes and updates about the business whenever it changes and act accordingly.

However, customers in this illegal business have been experiencing ‘illegal over illegal experience’ such as theft of their expensive properties including money.

John Justine, 38, a resident of Dar es Salaam, says, three months back, one day he was given the phone number of four sex workers by his friend, called one of them, and agreed to meet at Tip playground near Morogoro-connect road, Tandale, Dar es Salaam at night times of the same day.

He says, after meeting and fulfilling what made them meet, he noticed that the sex worker has stolen all the money (Two hundred shillings) that he put in his socks.

“I tried to call her phone number several times but she didn’t pick up the phone,” he says.

He says, he called his friend and tell him what has happened and his friend advised him to go back home because it is impossible to meet that girl twice or to get his money back since she will hide.

“I decided to go back home and sleep,’ he says.

He continues, “A following day I tried to call that number and find it unreachable,”

He reveals that he decided not to report the matter to the police since he knew it would be hard for him to explain the matter to the police.

“I was afraid, I asked myself a couple of questions about how am I going to narrate the story to the police?” he says.

He continues, “I realized it is a bad idea because it might be me who going to stay behind bars due to the promotion of illegal business in the country,”

On the other hand, Salmin Salim, 23, says, he never experienced theft of his property by sex workers though he’s been a customer for two years.

He reveals he has never gone with any of his expensive properties or more amount of money that is going to pay for service because he never trusted sex workers.

“I know they never respected their bodies; how can they respect someone’s properties?” he asked and continues, “I think they have already sacrificed their bodies for money, so they can do anything to get money even by stealing their customers’ money,”

He adds that even if a sex worker stole your money you can’t be brave enough to report to the police about what has just happened.

“Reporting to the police means to tell them you are involving yourself in illegal business and you’ll be arrested,” he explains.

Aisha Ali, 26, a sex worker and resident of Dar es Salaam, reveals, one year back she has stolen more than four million and seven thousand shillings in cash from a customer by collaborating with a receptionist at one of the hotels in the city.

She says, the receptionist told her that her customer was talking with someone on the phone and told him that he has a lot of money in cash which he will deposit in a bank the following day.

“We planned everything in a few minutes and he didn’t notice anything,” she says.

She continues that after she entered the room with her customer, the receptionist texted to tell her to ask her customer for alcohol (bears).

“She texted me again to tell me not to use glasses, and I did as she said,” she reveals.

she describes, “It didn’t take a minute after he drink that bear by using the glass, he fell asleep like a dead person,”

she continues that she took a bag with everything in it, lock the door outside and leave the keys down.

“I gave the receptionist two million and took a taxi back to leave the area of the scene very fast,’ she says.

She adds, “I left the city the following day morning back to my hometown (Shinyanga) so that nobody can catch me,”

“I was very confident because nobody knows my real name,” she explains.

She revealed that she came back to the city seven months later.

“I don’t know if he’s alive or dead, and I don’t care at all,” she reveals. She continues, “We all suffer in this life whenever I get the chance to get money, I use it effectively whether legal or illegal,”

Mariam Michael, 20, says, one day she got a call from a customer asking her to go to his home and she said ‘no’ but after he doubled her prices, she accepted the offer.

She says, the customer told her to use a motorcycle (Bodaboda) so that not to use a lot of time to reach his home (From Sinza to Mbezi mwisho).

She continued, after spending half an hour in the customer’s house, someone knocked on the door and he told her that it could be his wife.

That, before thinking about what to do she (the wife of her customer) entered the room and started to punch her in the face.

“He (the customer) stopped her and they went outside while the wife locked the door,” she says.

She continues, “I heard she was talking to someone who told him to find some drug addicts in the street to come and rape me while recording a video,” she says.

She explains, “I knew it was a matter between life and death,” she continued, “The only card I had is the customer because he was convincing her wife to set me free so that they can hold a talk and solve the matter,”

She says, after twenty minutes she heard the wife of her customer talking on a phone and then she went to open the gate.

“While she was going to open the gate, my customer opened the door and told me to use the back door to escape,” she says.

“This business is all about sacrificing yourself, while they were arguing outside, I was collecting money and other expensive things because I believe my customer will get me out of that room,” she says.

She adds, “Right by my side there are no reasons to feel sorry for someone when I don’t even feel sorry for myself as I do this type of business,”

Mr David Misime, a police force spokesperson, reveals, customers of the illegal business are afraid of reporting anything to the police force as they know they will be held accountable for involving themselves in the prostitution business.

“They know it’s a mistake to involve themselves in the business, that’s why they grief in their own ways but not to ask for the help of the police force in relation to that matters,” he says.

He continues, the police force has been putting more effort to end illegal businesses in the country including the prostitution business.

“They can’t escape the legal hand in any way, we will continue to put effort to end it despite the changes in their approaches and strategies,” he explains.

However, Mr Misime advises people not to involve themselves with the prostitution business to keep their properties and even their health safe.