ONE hundred and twenty five brothels in Accra have been targeted by the Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs (MOWAC) for a special exercise aimed at rescuing a number of teenagers involved in child prostitution.
Among the facilities targeted is the Soja Bar, near the Kwame Nkrumah Circle, from where 60 child prostitutes were rescued last January.
The bar was closed down immediately after the January operation but brisk activities by sex workers have resumed there, barely three months after the owners had pulled down parts of the structures used for their operations.
The dismantling of the structures was carried out after a visit to the area by the Parliamentary Caucus on Population and observers described the move as a ploy by the owners to avoid the imminent destruction of the structures by state agencies.
Investigations conducted by the Daily Graphic revealed that the owners of Soja Bar had rehabilitated some of the cubicles and were renting them out to sex workers, some of whom were said to be as young as 12, and their clients.
The number of children engaged in the practice is not known but the ministry said those found to be involved would be provided with shelter, where they would be encouraged to learn trades to enable them to stop the practice.
Announcing the ministry’s measures at a press briefing in Accra last Thursday, the sector Minister, Hajia Alima Mahama, said the African Development Bank had agreed to provide the shelter for the child prostitutes and other street children.
She said the issue of shelter was crucial because all the 60 child prostitutes who were rescued from the Soja Bar in January had told officials of the ministry that the lack of accommodation had forced them into the illicit act.
The minister said 46 out of the 60 rescued children had been reunited with their families, while 14 had been taken to the Department of Social Welfare for training in income-generating ventures.
She noted that none of those rescued had returned to the Soja Bar.
The prevalence of child prostitution in the country raised concerns recently, with a statement being made in Parliament to the effect that the 125 brothels were undermining the moral values of the country.
Hajia Mahama made it clear that the operation was not going to be a nine-days’ wonder but that periodic swoops would be conducted by the ministry, in conjunction with related agencies and the security forces.
On why the Soja Bar had been allowed to return to business, she said the demolition of the bar could be carried out only with a court order, saying the order could only be obtained if a concerned Ghanaian took the matter to court and secured a legal backing that the bar was posing a major threat to the health and safety of children who were not mature enough to make sound decisions.
She, therefore, urged civil society to complement the efforts of the government by showing concern so that the numerous brothels sprouting up in the metropolis stop luring children to their destruction.
The minister said her outfit had in place a Gender and Child Policy on Early Childhood Development Programme,
saying that under the programme regional and district child protection committees had been formed to work on child protection issues at the local level.
Hajia Mahama said studies in child prostitution undertaken by the Department of Children of her ministry revealed that the canker was present even at the district levels.
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