The streets of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia bustle with activity during the day. Shoppers crowd markets,
taxi cabs dash across busy streets and Arabian-style music booms from
office towers. For the most part, Addis seems to be an ordinary city.
But as the sun sets, remaining illusions of normalcy disappear. Young
girls, some between the ages of 12 and 15, line city streets in hopes
of finding a customer or two for the night.
What makes Addis different than cities
in the
U.S. with prostitution problems? The answer lies in the
statistics. More than 150,000 women walk the streets each night. Many
charge $1 per trick, making them accessible to both Ethiopians and
those on business from the West. In many ways, prostitution here is a
result of poverty. Unemployment is over 50 percent. Ask a woman to
leave the streets and she might go months, years or even decades
without work.