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Mauritius: The Sad Experience of a Girl in Quatre-Bornes

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L'Express (Port Louis)

OPINION
24 August 2007
Posted to the web 24 August 2007

Brinda Runghsawmee
Port Louis

Prostitution wakes up in Quatre-Bornes centre as the sun sets.

Between sunset and nightfall, when nature is hushed and beautiful; when birds go to sleep; when the sky is a mystery and I just feel like kissing the dark blue majesty of the mountain with tinted lacy hems, I see that girl waiting for customers near a bank in Quatre-Bornes and I am sad.

Somewhere a mother, a father, a sister, a brother, a grandmother, a grandfather, or a friend is grieving for that girl. They are looking for her but they do not know where she is. I am sadder because that girl has dreams -- to be a wife, a mother and a homemaker or to embrace a profession or learn a craft. Now who will make her dreams a beautiful dream in real life?

That girl is a prostitute.(It is true that we must get rid of prostitution in Quatre-Bornes but we do not have the right to throw stones at prostitutes.) She needs our help and compassion. She is a daughter of Mauritius. Deep down in her being, she longs to be free from that vicious trap. But she is poor and helpless. I am the saddest when men pay a rate to use her body to satisfy their sexual needs and fantasies.

I will be happy the day that girl realises her body is only hers. Within it resides her soul, mind, heart and spirit.

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I will be happier the day when men consider that girl as they consider their sisters. I will be the happiest when women stop throwing stones at that girl; when, between sunset and nightfall, nature is hushed and beautiful; when birds go to sleep; when the sky is a mystery and I just feel like kissing the dark blue majesty of the mountain with tinted lacy hems, I see that girl capturing those precious moments with her family.

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