Prostitution Tax

This story in the Standard made good reading: Peddlers of flesh get a touch of class

My only problem with the story is that it tries to evoke horror and suffering, but evidence to the contrary is present right there in the article:

A college student known by her trade name of Brandy, who plies her trade from a girls’ hostel in the city, confided to us that she makes up to Sh35,000 in a week when business is good.

“It a thrilling business,” she says. “I was forced into it due to hardship and the harsh living conditions, and now I pay my own fee and still have something left over to send to my mother who is a widow.“

Her mother believes that she is the beneficiary of a lucrative internship with an international NGO in the city.

(Nice touch I must say, claiming to work for an NGO)

Apparently it is shocking that the business is a lucrative one:

In a shocking revelation, one of the bureaus alleges to pocket close to Sh300,000 a day from the services delivered by some of the 20 girls in its stable.

A regular office worker earning KSH 30,000 a month pays income tax to the government. A prostitute earning more than the office worker lives on a tax-free salary.

Either way you look at it: there is little incentive for a prostitute to change professions, and the government loses out on tax revenues.

Whats the offence ?

Some prostitutes from across East Africa were prevented from attending a workshop in Uganda.

What is more interesting in the above post is the apparent disconnect between the poster and commentators.

The intention of the poster was to highlight the criminalization of prostitution. A crime usually needs a victim, in the above example the only apparent “victim” appears to be a minister who took offense. (Apparently, a way of life is such a fragile thing that it needs protection under law)

The comments on the other hand, turn this issue into something else:

Maybe what the government needs to do is to find ways and means for women to support themselves so that they dont have to be prostitutes.

That when the women have really already found a way to support themselves. How about just legalizing prostitution ?