'Sex workers have rights too,' says Magistrate

Prostitutes have rights and should be protected by the law, a Bulawayo magistrate said yesterday.

Magistrate Trinos Wutabwashe said this before sentencing a 25-year-old man to an effective 10 years in prison for raping a woman he had hired for sexual favours at a club in Bulawayo.

Pedzisai Magama of Makokoba in Bulawayo was arrested for raping a 24-year-old woman from Entumbane after the two had met at Club Royal on August 31.

The woman reportedly charged Magama $15 for her services but upon arrival at his home in Makokoba after 03:00hrs, he declined to pay the agreed fee.

Magama then escorted the woman to a bus stop to find transport to take her home.

Along the way, he assaulted her before dragging her into a nearby public toilet at the farmers' market, where he raped her.

Wutabwashe said Magama, who told the court that he was married and that his wife was in the rural areas, should be ashamed of himself.

He said although prostitution is not allowed in Zimbabwe, men who want to indulge with them should seek their consent first.

The magistrate said all citizens are equal before the law.

"People involved in prostitution are also entitled to protection by the law. This is an opportunity to warn men who think prostitutes can be raped. Our law does not condone prostitution but a man who goes to a prostitute is equally guilty of prostitution," he said.

"Men who approach prostitutes should pay for their services. In this incident, the accused assaulted the prostitute before raping her. Such barbaric conduct has no room in modern society."

Wutabwashe sentenced Magama to 12 years in prison, and suspended two years for five years on condition that he is not convicted of a crime involving sexual assault within the period.