Rising public concerns that people in Liberia are catching hell is evident. On any normal day of the week in Monrovia, depending on where you go, hundreds of youths can be seen patrolling the streets as though in search of some lost possessions; others can be seen street hawking, locked in discussions at Hatai shops, playing street football when and where ever Monrovia's ever snarling traffic presents the opportunity to romp. But this is all during the day. At sunset, as darkness envelopes the city, its various night spots, drinking bars and entertainment centers light up.
Scores of virtually idle youths descend on those spots in search of adventure and money from freewheelers looking for fun. And it is at these spots the interested visitor can find himself virtually face to face with an array of young girls, mostly teenage, hustling potential clients in search of cheap thrills at real bargain prices.
And the commodity obviously on sale is their bodies, of course. To ensure they get the best offers, they parade themselves in a variety of mostly chic outfits exposing as much of their bodies as possible and they range in age and body size, from "super slim" as the expression suggests, "tenten", meaning the very young ones, pre or early teens; "big sis" early to mid-twenties; and "big ma" the older ones aged 30 and above.
And it appears their numbers keep increasing by the day so much so that a once nocturnal activity confined to certain areas is now out in the open where very young girls and boys can be seen openly soliciting customers for sex.
This has apparently claimed the attention of members of the Legislature, as reported in the July 12 edition of the Daily Observer, some of who are advocating for tougher laws to address the situation which, in their view, is fast going out of hand. In the story headlined "Makeshift Motels, Teenage Prostitution Anger Lawmakers", members of the House of Representatives, frowning on what they see as the increasing rate of teenage prostitution and makeshift brothels, have voted to summon the Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection as well as the Inspector-General of Police to provide explanation on the increasing rate of rape and other forms of sexual and gender-based violence and, of course, prostitution involving teenagers and underaged children.
