Sex workers in Boston a concern

THE community of Boston have taken to social media to express their concern about the increased numbers of sex workers patrolling the area.

One of Boston’s community members, Theo Kleynhans, who has been particularly vocal on social media regarding the prostitution, said the 10-year situation “only seems to be deteriorating” as community efforts to have sex workers removed from the area continue to not be addressed.

“There has been an increase of sex workers that work in the area. They wear clothes without underwear and flash their private parts at cars. I’ve exhausted all avenues to resolve the matter, and as a community we question our safety, because these girls are often escorted by pimps and work in illicit drug distribution,” he said.

“Boston CID will tell them to move, but once the CID leave, they return and continue to work. Living with prostitutes in your street is terrible, and there’s been an increase in crime.”

The national Asijiki Coalition Co-ordinator, Constance Mathe, said that because of lack of employment during the pandemic, many women turned to sex work to put food on the table.

Mathe said during the peak of the pandemic, many brothels closed down and several sex workers chose to move closer to the Voortrekker Road area due to cheaper accommodation and a large clientele.

“Due to the nature of the job, sex workers will often use alcohol and substances to numb the pain, fear and anxieties of their profession. It’s due to this and stigmatisation that many people will scapegoat sex workers for a number of issues in their communities, including illicit drug trade and petty crime,” she said.

In response to the reports, Boston CID contract manager Brent Carolus said that while the CID receive complaints about prostitution in the area, the methods of resolving the situation are limited.

“We have to adhere to human rights and dignity. We work closely with police on this matter and only have by-laws at our disposal. We can’t force sex workers to leave, we can only ask.”

Carolus said that according to their monitoring reports, between August 27 and September 26, only 12 women had been reported to be involved in prostitution in the area.