ROUNDING UP HOKERS IN MALAWI

It is a matter of fact that AIDS has taken its toll on human life, with various African countries amongst the worst hit. It has also placed incredible economic burdens on most of those countries which, given the soaring costs of available drugs, find their budgets increasingly strained. In May when the president of South Africa, Thabo Mbeki visited the US, interest centered around his purported overtures to critics of HIV as the cause of AIDS. Responding to a question during an appearance in San Francisco, President Mbeki pointed out that there was need for re-evaluation of the approach to AIDS especially in light of the exorbitant prices of the available drugs which, in South Africa, required that the whole entire budget for the Ministry of Health be devoted entirely to AIDS treatment. Clearly the issue of the costs for AIDS treatment have pre-occupied some African countries, especially in the absence of real efforts towards the alleviation of those hardships. In April the Malawi Ambassador to the US, Mr. Tony Kandiero, in private conversation, expressed consternation at the lack of constructive suggestions from representatives of the World Bank who, in discussions about AIDS treatment and the need for assistance in the procurement of drugs, continually advised about the use of preventive measures as the best weapon. Yes, prevention is certainly required and may be the best option, but it did little to restore the health of those who had already succumbed to it, who also constituted the most productive segment of the society.

Certainly, the ambassador's consternation was justified given the grim figures of AIDS casualties in his country. Last month it was reported on Malawi media that over the past few years 52,000 teachers have been lost. That figure is nothing short of calamitous, yet it only reflects casualties from one profession. When the losses from other sectors, such as the police, health workers, the military, agricultural sector, the civil service, etc, to say nothing of ordinary citizens, are factored in, the picture that emerges is simply horrific. Yet there are no prospects of treatment of those people who, even under the best of circumstances, couldn't afford the medication anyway. While the issue of AIDS treatment or ways of combating it in the Third World countries makes its run through the usual political-cum-economic discourse and review, some countries have resorted to other tactics. Prevention and AIDS awareness and education are certainly required but the AIDS issue has provided a backdrop for some measures that are controversial. Over the past few months the President of Malawi, Bakili Muluzi, ordered the removal of prostitutes from the towns, getting them thrown into jail. The move was bound to be controversial and it was. While the climate created by the preoccupation with AIDS may have turned out to be propitious for such a strategy, essentially making the women so branded scapegoats for the spread of the disease, it was a move that drew immediate criticism from the local human rights organization. For a start, the President's move must be separated from the larger issue of AIDS. It is one thing to 'purge' society of 'undesirable' elements, but it is a totally different thing to invoke the need to combat AIDS as the justification. Assuming that there are individuals who can be appropriately characterized as prostitutes, the reality is that in Malawi they also appear to be the most sensitized to the use of condoms. A waiter at a Safari Lodge in Nkhotakota, Malawi, Ernest Duka, commenting on whether condoms should be given to women by the health clinics, to pass on to their spouses, remarked that men would be put off by that. Rather, the condoms should be given to and carried by men. The issue was that women who carried condoms were viewed as prostitutes. Ironic in that if women who carry condoms are prostitutes, in a sense the said prostitutes must be really tuned in to the most publicized means of fighting the spread of the disease. In some countries, e.g., Eritria, the so-called prostitutes are required to undergo regular check-up for sexually transmitted diseases and HIV. The real issue over which the Muluzi government was criticized was that it sought to penalize some women over what was essentially an economic problem. The women in the streets were in search of a means of livelihood. This would be attainable if the government were to articulate economic policies and initiate economic programs that would make that occupation or pursuit unnecessary. Under the circumstances, the failure of some of the economic policies and the economic stagnation are being used to victimize a small and vulnerable segment of the society, which also constitutes a soft target.

Beyond that there is the perennial problem of determining who is a prostitute. This is where criticisms of the decree brought out issues of human rights in general, and women's rights in particular. As democratic values increasingly gain ground, regardless of whether there are coherent characterizations of democracy or democratic practice independent of the dictates of the West, with provisions for women's rights and human rights in general, the forcible removal of hookers has had consequences on the status of women. Prostitutes are determined in part by such superficial things as their outfit, or by their spirit of independence, always willing and ready to socialize in any place, such as bars, usually male-dominated, but gatherings protected by provisions of freedom of assembly, and in part by their independence of not requiring males to accompany them. Unfortunately, the decree has meant that women need to be accompanied by males for them to have any measure of respect, especially in public social places. This has resulted in many women being confronted by the police or security guards for walking into a hotel, to the reception desk, or appearing in some other public place without male company, in clear violation of certain basic rights. The removal and incarceration of hookers in Malawi was still in progress last month. When asked about it by the local media, and how he would fend off the criticisms leveled at him, President Muluzi simply replied that the country had a right to remove prostitutes from the streets and he meant to see to it that it was done. He didn't indicate whether there were any laws that the women had broken, implying that there may be none.