Carl Collison 18 Jan Joan Segale says even going to the shops can be traumatic because residents shout at sex workers, tell them they are not wanted and that they have HIV. She discovered it was a rubber bullet the painful way, when the second one hit her on her pubic bone.
A sex worker, Sithole was the target of a resident of Primrose, in the east of Johannesburg, where she works. Sithole is not alone. Every now and then, they even have snakes thrown at them. And when they hit you, they hit you like you are a man.
Even when sex workers are not on the streets waiting for clients, they are targeted. The simple act of going to the grocery store can result in them being verbally abused.
This is a prostitute. You know, the idea that sex workers are connected to crime or anything bad that is happening in the neighbourhoods. Sex workers are breaking the law.
Residents of Primrose have the right to feel safe in their neighbourhood. They should not have to be afraid of coming out of their homes and being harassed or subjected to inappropriate, illegal behaviour.
