This past week, I was totally broke from having to pay for little things here and there but I needed to to buy some groceries. I decided to go to France to grocery shop (I know it sounds fancy but it really isn't, the french border is only 25 minutes from where I live... hehehe)... food is way cheaper in France than in Switzerland!!! I kept bragging to my family about traveling to another country just to buy groceries... hehehe :)
Okay, so something very interesting happened this weekend. Before now, I had only heard about 'special' neighborhoods with 'special' functions (hehehe, don't worry, I will decode soon)... I was invited to hangout with some other students at an english speaking bar (the Club House, I reckon). I didn't know where the bar was so it was a little adventure. It was about 10pm and I decided to walk there since I found from google maps that it was not too long a distance. However, I got the surprise of my life when I stepped on Rue de Monthoux... Prostitutes!!! So many prostitutes!!!
It was not the idea of prostitution that was shocking, for me, it was the fact that I had never been in such a close proximity to such an environment before. They were dressed so scantily (well, surprise, surprise hehe) and there were so many men hanging around. Another thing that caught my eye was that there were also police officers all around to protect the women from violence. I thought to myself, even though the government is treating this as a business venture at least the women are protected from rapists and psychos. It is different in other countries where prostitution is a taboo topic even though it is a thriving business. Women in such countries are abused in so many violent ways and society turns away as if it is a non existent issue.
I am not saying that prostitution is right but the women who find themselves in such situations probably wouldn't be there if they had a choice. Anyways, I was too scared to walk on that road alone so I called my friends to meet me at a better location to pick me up. It was quite an interesting experience, my friends laughed and told me that this was nothing compared to some other places in Europe where prostitution is legal.
What is the moral of the story? Emmmm... that it is better to be a prostitute in Geneva than in Lagos? hahahahaha....
