One more note on the West African sex trade

Stories about prostitutes are a staple of West African newspapers, and I tend to believe they tell us more about what it means to live in poverty than statistics ever can. As a newly arrived correspondent I used to be fascinated with Abidjan's nightlife - until I went about town to research an article on prostitution and discovered how grim and depraved the local sex trade really is. It was an unforgettable exercise in cynicism that managed to dampen my curiosity completely. Following below is a newspaper story, edited for brevity, that recounts what happened in Liberia while Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf went to collect her Nobel peace prize in Norway.

Sex Workers in Dog Fight Over Customer
A local shop in Paynesville was a dramatic scene when two commercial sex workers were locked in a dog fight over a man believed to be their customer. According to eyewitnesses, one of the girls, identified as Gertrude, 14, negotiated with her male customer for short time for a fee of $1. Gertrude said while she and her customer were on their way to a motel room, she left her customer to buy a condom in the shop. Upon her return, she was surprised to see her customer in conversation with Princess, a well-known commercial sex worker in her late 20s. "I thought she was negotiating to go with him too, but I realized they agreed to leave me alone," she noted.
Princess and the man agreed on $0.75 for short time. But Gertrude could not allow her customer to be taken away by Princess. Both girls got into a serious fight, something that attracted the attention of bystanders. According to Gertrude, this was not the first time Princess stole one of her customers. "She thinks she can take advantage of me because I am a little girl who’s just coming into the business. But whatever she can do, I can do even better," she explained in tears.
Girls between the ages of 13 and 14 are often seen in the area selling sex for $0.50 and beyond. Our reporter who visited the scene said he was engaged by many teenage girls who wanted short time. Some of them explained to this paper that they were on the streets because they are self-supported.