Monrovia, Liberia: In a terrifying revelation, it was found that child prostitutes in Liberia spend their nights in graveyards in order to keep themselves safe.
According to a report published in Mirror, increasing number of girls in Liberia aged between 11 and 12 are turning to prostitution in order to survive while the country is yet to recover the civil conflict that ended 14 years ago.
The practice of paid underage sex started when Liberia faced civil strife. Girls, as young as ten years old, became ‘girlfriends’ of fighters so that they could get food and other necessary things.
Children, especially girls, who don’t have any help to turn to, spend their nights in graves clawed-out by themselves, in order to stay alive. Meanwhile, they witness uncontrolled drug abuse, risky sexual encounters and are also prone to serious health issues like AIDS and TB.
Another shocking fact revealed in the report is that for the sex work, these children get a beggarly amount of about 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,” Princess Chea, a 16-year-old victim told Mirror.
“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 further added.
Explaining about her fight for survival, she said that she was lucky that she did not get pregnant. She also said that all she could do was to pray and carry on when her country was hit by ebola.
“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,” she said.
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