The price of sex...

Yesterday I sat in on a training session for peer educators(people who work within their peer groups to teach them about any number of the issues we work on), this session was for sex workers and matatu tauts. first i found it pretty interesting that when talking with the group, the women were shy to discuss their work and the rates they charge, but the men, the men were free and willing to discuss the rates at which they get sex in voi. the reason this came up -- the leader of the session was trying to make a point about pricing. he mentioned that many tour guides have stopped staying the night in a nearby town because sex is too expensive, but they have found that sex in voi is cheap and we now have upwards of 400 tourguides(for neighboring Tsavo park) in town sleeping with our women on any given Friday. The session leader was trying to encourage the women to raise their prices so that it would drive this clientel out of town. i find this an interesting suggestion in that my organization works with the sex workers to encourage, and provide tools for them to live healthier lives. we also work to give them alternative occupational training, but we recognize that this is a business transaction and that there are many forces in the economy that create this market. It doesn't seem conducive to business for these women, who need these clients and their money to survive, to drive out these men. just a bit to chew on, still figuring things out.