A British
friend of mine once told me that Nigerian girls have redefined
prostitution and I asked what exactly does he mean? We both agreed that a
girl who agrees to exchange the freedom of her body to a friend,
colleague, acquaintance or stranger in exchange for money is a
prostitute. Wikipedia, one of the most popular internet sources defines a
prostitution as the act or practice of providing sexual services to
ANOTHER person IN RETURN FOR MONEY. When I was growing up, I believed
that prostitutes were those who either stood on the street, probably
stark illiterates who either enjoy sex, are desperate to make ends meet
or are homeless and are subjected to staying in brothels where men have
sex with them and give them money to pay for their accommodation and
subsequently survive.
This
friend made it clear that young university girls, bankers, lawyers and
even
married women are prostitutes in Nigeria of today. I was in denial and
knew that this had an element of truth but I argued that it happens
everywhere in the world not just Nigeria. Many blogs, sites,
articles etc in Nigeria sometimes suggest that if your man is not taking care of
you, find someone who would. Despite the care from parents that female
students get, the salaries that the young ladies in the working sector
get, they still feel the need to search for a guy that can add to their
riches. Some sell their bodies for job security and promotions at work, some to get contracts and allocations and some under duress of some kind. (WEEC is a strong advocate for independent women)
The ladies this my friend was talking about are our sisters, cousins, friends, neighbours who engage in this otherwise welcome behaviour amongst the youth of today. It is in no way normal to be willing to offer your body for money in what ever guise either dating married men, older men, at a club after having drinks, flings etc. Disappointingly,
this is becoming a trend amongst our ladies who are the mothers of
tomorrow, the future of the nation who would raise governors, senators,
professors, doctors, lawyers etc. How would they have the moral
justification to instill discipline in the upcoming generation. Remember the women train the children.
If
the men are acting like dogs (excuse my language) the ladies should not
act like bitches as well. Some say it is the easiest way out for most
young girls. The word ARISTOS has been coined to describe either the
married men that dates university girls or the girls themselves. Is this
not prostitution?
Responsibility of the media: We know that the most popular agent of socialisation is the media and we are all the media "fourth estate of the realm". Bloggers, reporters, twitter handlers, main stream media practitioners etc. Is it a failure on our path when I see a story of infidelity, sex for money etc being reported as entertainment instead of news with a psychological message directed at pointing out the wrongs in such action? I think so. In the quest to sell news, we subject the future minds of the nation into immorality especially the young girls. This is sometimes seen in our films. The very media that is meant to be a corrective agent, has indirectly turned destructive. This is very sad.
WEEC,
as a project, has this as one of its goals, to create awareness and to
support efforts that has been put in this direction in the past.
We would try to disabuse the minds of our ladies out there. Please join us!!. Exposure and modernisation has nothing to do with liberty to indulge in
indiscriminate degradation and gross disrespect of the women. If Men would respect Women, Women have to respect themselves.
0 comments :