News / National
Cash flush panners prey on vulnerable girls
06 Apr 2023 at 01:41hrs | Views
GOLD panners are reportedly preying on vulnerable young girls in Nkayi District in Matabeleland North by using their financial muscle to quench their sexual appetite on the adolescents thereby exposing them to the risk of contracting HIV and Aids.
Nkayi is surrounded by gold-rich districts such as Kwekwe and Bubi and Gold panners use proceeds from gold panning to lure young women into sex.
The National Aids Council (Nac) said adolescents and young women who have no financial independence are vulnerable largely because they fail to negotiate for safer sex when in relationships with the panners.
Gold panners are known for living a flashy lifestyle.
In an interview during a recent media tour in Nkayi, Nac the district Aids coordinator Mr Mongiwabesuthu Ngwenya said there is a challenge in the community where most girls are sexually active in their teens.
"We have a challenge of early sexual derby of our boys and girls and young women and this is one of the key drivers of HIV and Aids in Nkayi district. The girls are brought up in a society where there are some child-headed families, poverty and there is no money to take them to school," he said.
"Mr Ngwenya said some of the girls tend to have sex at an early age and get pregnant.
"We also have the issue of immigration of gold panners who are coming from other districts. In Nkayi we don't have much gold in the district, but we have neighbouring districts like Kwekwe and Bubi so when those gold panners want to spend their money they come to our district and in the process interact with our adolescent and young women," he said.
"Because of their economic challenges, they find themselves falling prey to those moneyed gold panners who spend on them and they engage in sexual activities with them."
Mr Ngwenya said financial challenges are also driving young women to have older sexual partners leading to inter-generational HIV infections.
He said the district has come up with several interventions to try to close down HIV and Aids-related drivers.
"As Nkayi District we have seen that HIV infection is high among adolescents and young women between the ages of 10 and 24 because of their vulnerability. The interventions that we are doing are targeted at adolescent girls and young women," said Mr Ngwenya.
"One of them is Sister to Sister where we teach them about HIV and the prevention methods that we have so that they are able to protect themselves from HIV infection."
Mr Ngwenya said while the Sister to Sister programme focuses on girls, Nac has a Brother to Brother project as young men are also at risk of contracting the disease.
He said they also educate their groups about how sexual gender-based violence can contribute to HIV.
"We also teach them about gender-based violence and how they can report the issues if they find themselves in that predicament. We also teach them financial literacy and encourage them to embark on sustainable projects," said Mr Ngwenya.
"We do this because research proves that women who are not economically empowered may fail to negotiate for safe sex."
Nac engages community mentors in the implementation of the programmes including Sister to Sister.
One of the mentors, Ms Otilia Mloyi (36) from Jongela Village in Nkayi said she works with young women to educate them on how their sexual behaviours can put them to risk.
"Since I started this programme, I have improved even the way I budget. I now run a grocery shop and I have also managed to buy a business stand in my home area through the proceeds from the incentives I get from Nac," she said.
"I also bought two cows for my business. We teach young women that they also need to find projects that can make them economically viable as opposed to relying on men because at the moment we have some girls who are dating with the hope of getting money from boyfriends."
Meanwhile, Nac has said sex work fuelled by truck drivers and timber loggers, could be one of the HIV and Aids key drivers in Lupane District.
Matabeleland North is a transit route for truck drivers, some of them transporting goods across the Sadc region.
They make several stops in various parts of Lupane and Nac contends that their presence attracts sex workers.
Nac Lupane acting district Aids co-ordinator Mr Kelvin Tshuma said sex workers target truck drivers and timber loggers in the district.
"Our HIV key driver is that we are a district that is located along the highway, the Bulawayo-Victoria Falls Highway. So, we have a lot of sex work that goes on along the highway," he said.
"We have HIV hotspots, for example, Kernmaur where trucks tend to park there during the night and this is where sex work takes place. Other places are Cross Jotsholo and Gwayi."
Mr Tshuma said sex workers also target timber loggers in the district since Lupane is rich in timber.
He said spousal separation could be the other reason that fuels HIV infections as couples live separately.
The province is, however, recording a decline in HIV and Aids-related cases.
The HIV prevalence rate stands at 10,8 percent, according to the 2021 HIV estimates. The incident rate is at 0,2 percent. In the last 10 years, Matabeleland North was around over 20 percent.
Mr Tshuma said a decline in HIV cases can be attributed to coordinated efforts that Nac and its partners are implementing.
He said the Nac helps market Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and post-exposure prophylaxis for HIV (PEP) to reduce the risk of new infections.
PrEP pill is given to individuals who are at risk of HIV and they take it up before indulging in sexual activities while PEP is given to someone who would have engaged in sex and risk contracting the virus.
Nkayi is surrounded by gold-rich districts such as Kwekwe and Bubi and Gold panners use proceeds from gold panning to lure young women into sex.
The National Aids Council (Nac) said adolescents and young women who have no financial independence are vulnerable largely because they fail to negotiate for safer sex when in relationships with the panners.
Gold panners are known for living a flashy lifestyle.
In an interview during a recent media tour in Nkayi, Nac the district Aids coordinator Mr Mongiwabesuthu Ngwenya said there is a challenge in the community where most girls are sexually active in their teens.
"We have a challenge of early sexual derby of our boys and girls and young women and this is one of the key drivers of HIV and Aids in Nkayi district. The girls are brought up in a society where there are some child-headed families, poverty and there is no money to take them to school," he said.
"Mr Ngwenya said some of the girls tend to have sex at an early age and get pregnant.
"We also have the issue of immigration of gold panners who are coming from other districts. In Nkayi we don't have much gold in the district, but we have neighbouring districts like Kwekwe and Bubi so when those gold panners want to spend their money they come to our district and in the process interact with our adolescent and young women," he said.
"Because of their economic challenges, they find themselves falling prey to those moneyed gold panners who spend on them and they engage in sexual activities with them."
Mr Ngwenya said financial challenges are also driving young women to have older sexual partners leading to inter-generational HIV infections.
He said the district has come up with several interventions to try to close down HIV and Aids-related drivers.
"As Nkayi District we have seen that HIV infection is high among adolescents and young women between the ages of 10 and 24 because of their vulnerability. The interventions that we are doing are targeted at adolescent girls and young women," said Mr Ngwenya.
"One of them is Sister to Sister where we teach them about HIV and the prevention methods that we have so that they are able to protect themselves from HIV infection."
Mr Ngwenya said while the Sister to Sister programme focuses on girls, Nac has a Brother to Brother project as young men are also at risk of contracting the disease.
He said they also educate their groups about how sexual gender-based violence can contribute to HIV.
"We also teach them about gender-based violence and how they can report the issues if they find themselves in that predicament. We also teach them financial literacy and encourage them to embark on sustainable projects," said Mr Ngwenya.
"We do this because research proves that women who are not economically empowered may fail to negotiate for safe sex."
One of the mentors, Ms Otilia Mloyi (36) from Jongela Village in Nkayi said she works with young women to educate them on how their sexual behaviours can put them to risk.
"Since I started this programme, I have improved even the way I budget. I now run a grocery shop and I have also managed to buy a business stand in my home area through the proceeds from the incentives I get from Nac," she said.
"I also bought two cows for my business. We teach young women that they also need to find projects that can make them economically viable as opposed to relying on men because at the moment we have some girls who are dating with the hope of getting money from boyfriends."
Meanwhile, Nac has said sex work fuelled by truck drivers and timber loggers, could be one of the HIV and Aids key drivers in Lupane District.
Matabeleland North is a transit route for truck drivers, some of them transporting goods across the Sadc region.
They make several stops in various parts of Lupane and Nac contends that their presence attracts sex workers.
Nac Lupane acting district Aids co-ordinator Mr Kelvin Tshuma said sex workers target truck drivers and timber loggers in the district.
"Our HIV key driver is that we are a district that is located along the highway, the Bulawayo-Victoria Falls Highway. So, we have a lot of sex work that goes on along the highway," he said.
"We have HIV hotspots, for example, Kernmaur where trucks tend to park there during the night and this is where sex work takes place. Other places are Cross Jotsholo and Gwayi."
Mr Tshuma said sex workers also target timber loggers in the district since Lupane is rich in timber.
He said spousal separation could be the other reason that fuels HIV infections as couples live separately.
The province is, however, recording a decline in HIV and Aids-related cases.
The HIV prevalence rate stands at 10,8 percent, according to the 2021 HIV estimates. The incident rate is at 0,2 percent. In the last 10 years, Matabeleland North was around over 20 percent.
Mr Tshuma said a decline in HIV cases can be attributed to coordinated efforts that Nac and its partners are implementing.
He said the Nac helps market Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and post-exposure prophylaxis for HIV (PEP) to reduce the risk of new infections.
PrEP pill is given to individuals who are at risk of HIV and they take it up before indulging in sexual activities while PEP is given to someone who would have engaged in sex and risk contracting the virus.
Source - The Chronicle
