Last night, I met friends at La Noche, a very popular expat nightclub. The place was packed, hot, and smoky. Remember what I said about locals not smoking? Working girls tend to smoke - nicotine suppress the appetite. La Noche, like every expat club here, is packed with working girls - easily 5-6 for every non-Liberian male in the place. They're all young, skinny, and fairly aggressive - I had to bat a few away. Saying I no want company is useless. I look (I am) comparatively rich. I could be the ticket to something, anything. Anything seems better.
I'd like to reach out to them (like I did with the homeless boys), but gender is perceived very differently here. This is a very patriarchal society, even though it's elected the first female president in Africa. Liberia has also experienced some aid-for-sex scandals, including an American who got caught making kiddie porn. The idea that I don't want sex from these girls, don't want something, is too high a hurdle. Sadly, this is one of the American ideas Liberians took too well. Nothing is free. I'll probably have to turn to one of my female colleagues and see if any of them want to work with these girls.
I'd like to reach out to them (like I did with the homeless boys), but gender is perceived very differently here. This is a very patriarchal society, even though it's elected the first female president in Africa. Liberia has also experienced some aid-for-sex scandals, including an American who got caught making kiddie porn. The idea that I don't want sex from these girls, don't want something, is too high a hurdle. Sadly, this is one of the American ideas Liberians took too well. Nothing is free. I'll probably have to turn to one of my female colleagues and see if any of them want to work with these girls.
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