‘I will not stand by as prostitution is decriminalised’

Mickey Meji is the founder of Kwanele International and its African and South African Advocator. She uses her experiences as a former sex 'worker' to argue for the Equality Law. ‘We can't call prostitution sex work because it's not a job I willingly chose; it was a means of survival. I felt like there were no other options for me.'

Mickey's single mom worked as a live-in domestic when she was younger. ‘I spent my childhood in Sea Point and Camps Bay, and even went to Camps Bay Primary School.' But at the age of 11, things changed when her mother lost her job and they moved to Khayelitsha. ‘My brothers dropped out of school to work.' At 16, she became pregnant with her first child and soon after, dropped out of school. By the time Mickey was 19, she had two kids and no means of taking care of them.

One day she was going from store to store on Voortrekker Road hoping to find a job when a man pulled up next to her and asked if she wanted to ‘do business'. With no money to get home, she thought that no one needed to know, and 20 minutes later she had R550 in her pocket.

A few months later, her mother was in trouble with the mashonisas (a person or company that gives out small loans). She had borrowed money to get by, but the time had come to pay it back. ‘They were threatening to take the shack to settle the debt.' Faced with the prospect of losing their home, Mickey went back to Voortrekker Road. ‘It didn't take me long to find someone willing to pay me for sex.' She was able to go back to the mashonisas and negotiate more time. ‘I thought I just needed a month and that would be it.'

Nine years later she was still soliciting and now had four kids to care for. Initially she didn't experience violence from 'buyers', but that was short-lived. She has scars on her body from when she fought off a man who wanted to slit her throat after he'd tried to force himself on her. ‘Each time I left home, I thought: "this may be the last time my family see me".'

In 2009 she was approached by an organisation to be the face of legalising prostitution. At the time, Mickey didn't understand the notion of demanding the right to sell sex. ‘Nothing about what I did made me proud, but I accepted it as it meant I could have a job and a salary.'

She recalled hearing about an organisation talking about exiting the system of prostitution and decided to reach out to them. ‘In 2016, I told Nozizwe I wanted to start a survivor movement for those who have escaped the sex trade.' Embrace Dignity was happy to support Mickey's dream. This time when she went back to her old spot it wasn't for money, but to appeal to the women who had solicited alongside her to trust in her. ‘We held a workshop, and talked about what they wanted.' It was the first of many.

Today, Mickey has a stable income, and is going back to school. ‘I now have hope. None of these things seemed like an option for me.'