When we ask two patrons if children are there, they point to one girl and suggest she could be a prostitute. Young and slim, she might indeed be underage. In Brazzaville, hundreds of children dart through the unpaved streets. It is obvious that the wealth from the lucrative oil businesses has not trickled down to the majority of the population. Patrolling the streets of Pointe-Noire and Brazzaville at night, a team from ASI looks for girls who are working as hookers, many of whom are 13 to 18 years old.
They encourage girls to come off the street and stop selling their bodies to show them that they have other self-worth. Bienvenu Tsaty of ASI says that most girls become prostitutes because of problems in the family. Sent out to work by their families, prostitution is often their only option. Young girls feel that prostitution is the only way to survive. According to the World Food Program, an estimated 47 percent of the Congolese population lives in entrenched poverty.
Coupled with a high dependence on imported food, poverty has led to deep food problems in the country, making survival difficult. Many children are unable to attend school. Congo has attracted an influx of foreigners from French oil companies as well as Chinese and Malaysian construction workers, according to the United States State Department.
Along with Congolese men, the foreigners are reportedly clients of underage girls, ASI members report. There is no protection. There are too many death and disappearances here. Violence against girls working in prostitution is common, he said. Joseph Bikie Likibi, the national coordinator for Reiper, a child-protection network in Brazzaville, said that one reason that girls may be forced into prostitution is accusations of witchcraft. The Pentocostal church, a popular denomination in the country, is teaching parishoners that when something bad happens to a family member, it is because of witchcraft.
Young girls may be cast onto the street because they have been accused of being a witch; they then fall into prostitution. Fears of witchcraft also prevent girls from speaking out against violence. They fear that should they accuse a man of violence he will then go to a marabout, the witchdoctor who will cast a spell against them. Women and girls face a further threat of being drawn into slavery.
