YGN

Prostitution

Hello. It's a great day and I know without a shadow of doubt that great times lie ahead of you. Your future portends greatness, but that is only if you have the desire, will and drive to work at becoming the best that you can be. Indeed, your willpower is your prerogative. Nobody can force you to become what you don't want to become. In-as-much as we are human beings; vulnerable to external influence, you must realize that the Almighty Creator deposited in all, the ability to resist evil emanating from peers, society, the media and even the family. Yes, it is time to kindle that innate ability to discern between good and evil, and choose the noble path to fulfilling your destiny. Now don't tell me that you can't help doing the terrible things you do, because I know that you can. I don't care if your father was an armed robber, your cousin a ritual killer, your brother a drug addict, your sister a duper, or your mother a prostitute. Your tainted background is not an excuse for waywardness. You can determine this minute to be the light of your family; a reference point for others to emulate. Don't join the bandwagon. Dare to be different; dare to be a person of influence. Talking about prostitution, why do you think young persons, particularly young ladies are increasingly prone to prostitution? I sampled opinions as follows.

The Whys of Prostitution

As far as I am concerned, poverty is the major reason why young girls find a profession as mean and risky as prostitution very attractive. The average Nigerian lives below poverty level. Youths from poor homes find it very difficult to survive or make ends meet. When parents are unable to provide the basic needs for food, clothing and shelter for their children, what do you expect? To make matters worse, there is crippling unemployment and jobs are very hard to find. Let's face facts. Do you expect these girls to die of starvation or what? Of course they resort to prostitution as a means of survival. I am not in support of prostitution, but the issue of poverty needs to be urgently addressed in our country. - Dele.

Parental Attitude
Contrary to what many people think, I believe that the root cause of waywardness and prostitution amongst young girls is negative parental attitude and wrong use of words. A girl once confessed that she was her dad's favourite child. Her father pampered her; showering her with gifts to the point that her mother became jealous. As a result, the mother started accusing the father of dating his daughter, and even went as far as calling the girl a prostitute. She never ceased abusing her daughter verbally, to the point that the girl became frustrated and ended up as a hooker. Her mother called her a prostitute and she eventually became one. Parents can make or ruin their children's destinies through the words they speak. -Doris.

Laziness
Many young ladies want to be rich and influential, but they do not want to pay the price of hard work. They want the shortcut to success. Prostitution as far as I am concerned, has nothing to do with poverty, but rather it is caused by laziness. If you ask a young girl to choose between being a house keeper, nanny or a prostitute, she will likely settle for prostitution because she does not want legitimate work. It all has to do with our distorted national psyche, where people do not believe in the dignity of labour. - Chuks.

Greed and Avarice
Let me tell you, most of the girls involved in prostitution today are very greedy and covetous. They are desperate to have the good things of life and to reap where they did not sow. These girls are totally obsessed with money and material acquisition. Some of them are actually from what you can call average or rich homes but they lust after money to the detriment of their souls. Take the University setting for instance, there is this demon that possesses most of the ladies there and it drives them into prostitution. It is the insatiable love of money that is the root of all evils, prostitution inclusive. - Lekan.

Broken Home
If you take a survey, you will discover that most of these commercial sex workers are from broken homes. Some of them are from homes where there is no love between their parents or family members. Some out of frustration resort to prostitution just to spite their parents or express their discontent with the home-front. When there is genuine love and harmony in families, the rate of prostitution will reduce drastically. - Halima.

Poor Parental Upbringing
Parents have neglected their principal role of raising their children to become responsible God fearing individuals. Some of these parents themselves are very bad examples to their children. I mean, when a daughter knows that her father is a sugar daddy to a young girl somewhere, and her mother keeps a boyfriend, what do you expect? She will grow up believing that waywardness is an acceptable way of life. I believe that parents have a pivotal role to play in instilling the right values in their offspring. - Amaka.

Deceptive Media Appeal
Our media is daily bombarded with all kinds of messages that portray sexual impropriety in good light. When musical videos, home movies and drama teach young people that waywardness is the quickest way to riches, what do you expect? It is the same way that some adverts encourage illicit sex and the use of condoms for young people. These messages send a wrong signal and make the idea of prostitution appealing to vulnerable minds - T. K.

Government's Insensitivity to Welfare
The problem of prostitution is mainly a third world problem because most of the prostitutes in the world live on this side of the globe. Government at all levels in our country need to rise up to their responsibility to the citizens, especially to the youths. Prostitution is much lower in countries where there is an established social welfare system that caters for children, the poor and the unemployed. - Isa.

Godlessness
A godless society is prone to all sorts of vices and evils; prostitution inclusive. The fear of God is definitely the beginning of wisdom. When young ladies embrace God and shun the devil, they will definitely live decent and upright lives. Prostitution is a complete desecration of the honour and dignity of womanhood and any girl involved in this or any form of illicit sex needs to repent or she will end up destroying herself. - Oladimeji.

Distorted Value System
We live in a society that celebrates mediocrity. People hardly value or reward hard work, genuine efforts or excellence. Our media does not help matters either. As long as a woman is rich and beautiful, she becomes the favourite of the Paparazzi, celebrated on the covers of magazines. Nobody cares if she is a high class prostitute who acquired her wealth by crooked means. Such negative attitudes will make the younger generation of women tow the path of their wayward predecessors. - Abimbola.

Harassment from Male Folks
To me, prostitution is a vicious cycle involving men and women. The women of course are the victims of this human degradation. Most men see women as sex tools, mere instruments to be used and abused. It all has to do with poor gender sensitivity and lack of respect for the female folks. To make matters worse, our so called leaders; those in positions of authority, as well as other highly placed men are known patrons of the sex trade. Prostitution will stop only when men recognize that women are not objects of abuse. - Theresa.

Impatience
Many become hookers because they know that genuine success takes time and efforts; and since they want instant prosperity, they opt for prostitution. No doubt, our society is a tough one to survive in but the get-rich-quick attitude is definitely not the way to go. I believe that God's time is always the best. - Essien.

Prostitutes beget prostitutes
The truth about prostitution is that it is a lifestyle and children born by prostitutes often tow the lowly career line of their mothers. Like begets like and it is only by divine intervention or willpower that children born of prostitutes are rescued from the immoral profession. - Tobe.

Bad Company
Some erstwhile good girls from decent homes have been co-opted into prostitution because they mingled with the wrong set of people. Youths must be wary of the kind of company they keep to avoid being corrupted by evil company. Parents should also inculcate the value of modesty, decency and self-respect in our young ladies. - Kainke.

Ignorance
I want to believe that the girls involved in prostitution are very ignorant of the dangers and implications of the trade; otherwise no reasonable human being will toy with prostitution, no matter the pressures. I mean, the risks are just too numerous to mention. There is the high risk of HIV \ AIDS, there is also the grave danger of being sacrificed for rituals or being kidnapped for sinister purposes. There is also the issue of debasement, frustration, rejection, misery, low self-esteem, guilt, condemnation, and satanic possession which prostitutes have to face. I really think there needs to be a multi-sector approach to the awareness campaigns on prostitution, for the impact to be felt. - Chinwe.

FinalWord
Our leaders should please examine the economic disparity of the nation and combat poverty and unemployment as quickly as possible. The role of the family, religion and the media in all this cannot be overemphasized. Say no to prostitution! It is evil, illegal, ungodly, unhealthy, dangerous, harmful and destructive. Is your life and future worth staking because of momentary monetary gains? I say no!