The tourism industry in The Gambia has attracted government-licensed prostitutes from the entire region. Gambian security forces were deployed to crack down on prostitutes in brothels and hotels in the urban areas in the early hours of the morning a few days ago.
During the operation, over 80 prostitutes, 31 of who are Gambians were arrested and incarcerated in prison. According to informed sources, the arrested prostitutes included nationals of Senegal, Guinea-Bissau and Sierra Leone.
The arrest was said to be well-timed because it happened when prostitutes - otherwise called commercial sex workers - were just about to start their night business. While arrested Gambians were said to be incarcerated in the state central prison in Mile II, non-Gambians were detained at an immigration post in Jeshwang, about 10 kilometres from Banjul, the capital.
It was speculated that non-Gambian arrested prostitutes were to be deported, which used to be the case in The Gambia earlier. This however was flatly denied by immigration officials. With a 95 percent Muslim population, religious scholars have always used the podium to instigate attacks on brothels that harbour prostitutes in the country. Right activists have always blamed The Gambia for commercialising sex trade but at the same time keep harassing sex workers.
At a recent conference in The Gambia, prostitutes scolded their colleagues for patronising men who refused to wear condom after they abandoned them. This has been doubted by researchers, who are yet to find the reasons. Gambian prostitutes not only are harassed by authorities.
