Nigerian and Ghanaian Women Working in the Brussels Red-Light District

Sarah Adeyinka, Sophie Samyn, Sami Zemni, Ilse Derluyn

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN: 9780367745530
• eBook ISBN: 9781000373929
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: African Politics
• Index: Social Sciences

This book unravels the lives, needs and experiences of Nigerian and Ghanaian women working in prostitution in Brussels.

This volume casts a light on the working conditions and the experiences of 38 women of Nigerian and Ghanaian origin, whose daily struggles and challenges are recalled from interviews in the field. Working within the red-light district of Brussels, an area with high crime rates and lacking in basic healthcare provision, the women are faced with a number of issues on a daily basis, ranging from security and health-related concerns, to work-related stress, discrimination and perceived stigma. Full voice is given to their stories, as well as contributions from state actors and local inhabitants, with the chief aim of building safe and healthy places for both residents and workers alike. The authors conclude in presenting clear recommendations and tools for practitioners and policy makers, designed to improve the outcomes of migrant women working not just within the red-light district of Brussels, but also within wider European and global contexts.

This book will be of particular interest for researchers and students of Migration Politics, Development Studies, Social Work and Sociology, as well as a useful guide for policy makers and practitioners in the field.

1 An introduction to the ethnographic study of Nigerian and Ghanaian women working in Brussels’ red-light district

1.1 Introduction

Two events in 2018 temporarily directed national attention towards the red-light district of the carrés behind Brussels North train station. First, the trial of the alleged “Mama Leather” was held, publicly exposing violent forms of exploitation and trafficking that were taking place in the area (De Staandard, 2018; HLN, 2018a). Second, a young Nigerian woman was murdered in front of her carré by an under-aged resident of the area (HLN, 2018b; DeMorgen, 2018). The events were overt signs of a degenerative situation and triggered questions about the safety of the women and the quality of life in the area. However, as one woman told us: “soldier go, soldier come, na barracks go remain”, a popular saying in Nigeria meaning, “no matter what happens and how many changes occur, some things will remain the same, immovable and unchanging”.

An estimated 150 African women stand behind the windows of the carrés today in an area that is characterized by outdated and neglected buildings, criminal activities (drugs, physical violence, trafficking, money laundering, etc.), nuisance (cars, noise, pollution), and the conflict between residential and commercial aspects of the neighbourhood (Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest, 2015). While there is still a small presence of older (60+) French and Belgian women, the majority of the women working there are of Nigerian descent, a minority is of Ghanaian descent.

The new policy on prostitution of the municipality of Schaerbeek (20.1) provides more assistance to the women and works towards their autonomy from pimps and human trafficking networks. This approach is said to have led to substantial improvements in the salons of the Aarschotstraat/rue d’Aerschot, the other red-light district nearby, but has failed to solve the grievances of the area of the carrés.¹ Actors “present” in the area (including social workers, the administrative police of the commune, and the local and federal police units) have expressed the difficulties they have in establishing trust relationships with the African women and in fully understanding what is going on. Next to cultural and linguistic barriers, the existence of institutional distrust often present in groups on the margins adds another layer of complexity. It is in this context that the Sub-Saharan² Women In Prostitution: Schaerbeek Ethnographic Research (SWIPSER) project came into being. It was commissioned and financed by the municipality of Schaerbeek and carried out by a Nigerian-Belgian research team (Sarah Adeyinka and Sophie Samyn) from Ghent University. The research was conducted between September 2018 and December 2019. A committee of several stakeholders met with the team regularly to provide insight and support to the researchers throughout the course of the project.

It is important to mention that this project was carried out within a limited time frame of one year as stipulated by the funders, which limited the time available for data collection and the amount of data collected and analysed. However, the importance of the research findings has already been demonstrated because the study enabled local actors to take steps in addressing some of the issues that we discovered and addressed. Also, we strongly believe that these findings have a global relevance, not only because the red-light district is embedded in a complex global web of inequality, migration, and sexualized racism that transcends the Brussels context, but also because of the movement of these women across borders and their work in prostitution in other European cities.

After the theoretical framework in the next paragraph, we take you through a short literature review of relevant themes on prostitution research. Thereafter, in Chapter 2 we explain the research design and data collection approach, with specific attention to the ethical considerations. Chapter 3 offers a historical contextualization of the area, focusing on legislation, the historical evolution of the red-light district of the carrés, Nigerian human trafficking networks, and the case of Ghanaian women. Chapter 4 presents our findings in four sections. The first three sections explore how the women navigate different realities: (1) the setting in which they work, (2) the migratory condition and the African community, and (3) the functioning of the red-light district of the carrés. They are based on the subjective accounts and heterogeneous experiences of the women and mirror the topics briefly discussed in the literature (prostitution and the city, prostitution, and migration and prostitution and policy). In the fourth section, four main challenges are identified. The conclusions in the last chapter lead to recommendations that may inform policy and practice working with these women.

None of this would have been possible without the very helpful input and feedback from the guidance committee and the various actors who set time aside to meet with us and support us.

1.2 Framework

1.2.1 Prostitution

Prostitution, or “the provision of sexual services for money or its equivalent” (Harcourt & Donovan, 2005, p. 201), is a contested subject and related policy is inevitably shaped by moral judgement (Munro & Della Giusta, 2008). Policies on prostitution vary worldwide, ranging from its criminalization to its decriminalization and even its regulation. Generally speaking, there are two juxtaposing approaches to the subject. On the one hand, there is the abolitionist perspective that equates all forms of prostitution with violence against women, considering it by nature as a criminal (or deviant) practice. On the other hand, the regulationist approach considers prostitution a legitimate form of labour (Showden, 2011). Belgium’s federal legislation on prostitution states that soliciting and procuring clients is illegal, even if prostitution itself is legal; thereby limiting the extent of change that local policy makers can implement in its regulation, and allowing municipalities and their local police units to regulate prostitution in their respective tolerance zones (Boels, 2016; Loopmans et al., 2008; Vermeulen et al., 2007). The local government of Schaerbeek does not take sides in this debate; rather, it accepts the existence of prostitution on its territory and endeavours to eliminate nuisance and criminal activities associated with the activity (Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest, 2015; Seinpost Adviesbureau, 2008; É. Haquin & H. Morvan, personal communication, October 18, 2018).

It is important to note that the authors do not take a moral stance in this debate nor feel the need to do so. Following authors like Peršak and Vermeulen (20.4), Kantola and Squires (20.4), Outshoorn (20.5), Brooks-Gordon (20.6), and O’Neill et al. (20.9), this book was written on the premise that adapting one perspective would have led to a one-sided and biased analysis. Even within the research team, there was a difference of ideas on sex work and prostitution, which we believe enhanced our understanding of the complexities of the subject. We do not consider all prostitution as violence against women, neither do we consider it a job like any other. We simply aimed to understand the meaning of prostitution and sex work from the perspective of the participants of this research and mirror their experiences in this book.

1.2.2 Choice of terminology

In research, using the correct and appropriate language and terminology is extremely important as doing so helps to reduce unintended bias throughout the research process (Van Helsdingen & Lawley, 2012). Prostitution or sex work is not a neutral term and the phrases “women working in prostitution” and “women in prostitution” were intentionally used to describe the women and their job in their own words, to best capture their experiences without imposing ours.

The term “sex workers”, though preferred by regulationists and deemed by some to be more neutral (Wagenaar et al., 2017), possesses a labour-rights connotation, which we only marginally encountered in the discourses of the participants. Most of the Nigerian and Ghanaian women in this study were ashamed of the work they did and hoped it would be temporary. Following Peršak and Vermeulen’s argument, sex work “neglects the important stigmatizing aspect of prostitution” (2014, p. 16), which profoundly shapes the way it is practised and experienced. Thus, we preferred to use the term prostitution instead of sex work.³

Understanding and factoring in the Nigerian context influenced the researchers’ choice of terminology because women who sell sex are referred to as “ashewo/ashawo” in Nigeria (Otutubikey Izugbara, 2005). The words “ashewo” and “ashawo” literally translated in the Yoruba language mean “money changer” and “money picker/gatherer”. The terms may have been coined based on the premise that money exchanges hands between clients and women in prostitution. Importantly, a woman who is deemed as “loose” or “easy” is also referred to as an “ashewo”/“ashawo” (Chernoff, 2004; Okonkwo, 2010; Plambech, 2014). Ashawo is also a word in the Ghanaian language, Twi, that means “slut, prostitute, loose/easy” (Glosbe, 2020; Urban Dictionary, 2012). The term, therefore, carries the same stigma as does “prostitution”.

It is therefore understandable that the women would refer to themselves as doing sex work, working in prostitution, and doing prostitution work but not as sex workers; thereby making prostitution and sex work an action that they take, rather than it being their identity (Plambech, 2014). The women referred to their job or the process of working in the red-light district of the carrés in these ways:

• “I dey do prostitution work” (I do prositution work).

• “I dey do this work” (I do this job).

• “I dey work for this prostitution area” (I work in this area/field of prostitution).

• “I dey do ashawo/ashewo/sex work” (I do prostitution/sex work).

Labelling theory contends that minority groups and disadvantaged individuals and groups are more likely to experience labelling (Bernburg, 2009). Thus, it was important to the researchers that they referred to the women and their job in their own words, which is why we used the terms “women in prostitution” and “women working in prostitution”.

1.2.3 Well-being and agency⁴

This project was commissioned by the municipality of Schaerbeek to inform policy, police, and other supportive services, hereby reflecting the political will to address the well-being and dignity of women working in the carrés. This research project is therefore situated within a perspective centred around human rights and human dignity as stated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (United Nations, 1948, art. 21.3).

First, it is important to begin by explaining why this is particularly relevant to women working in prostitution. Regardless of the moral stance, prostitution is regarded by all who are concerned as a high-risk activity (Kinnell, 2006; Peršak & Vermeulen, 2014; Sanders, 2004). In 2016, Amnesty International called attention to the numerous human rights violations that sex workers suffer worldwide. Potential risks include exposure to different forms of violence, malevolent exploitation, substance abuse, stigma, harassment from police and communities, and health-related issues (Hubbard & Sanders, 2003; Pitcher, 2006).

Second, in line with recent research that considers prostitution a “complex social and relational object” (Peršak & Vermeulen, 2014; Wagenaar et al., 2017), it is i...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• List of illustrations
• Acknowledgements
• Glossary
• 1 An introduction to the ethnographic study of Nigerian and Ghanaian women working in Brussels’ red-light district
• 2 Research design of the ethnographic study on Nigerian and Ghanaian women working in Brussels’ red-light district
• 3 Historical contextualization of the Brussels’ red-light district where Nigerian and Ghanaian women work in prostitution
• 4 Findings of the ethnographic study on Nigerian and Ghanaian women working in Brussels’ red-light district
• 5 Conclusions and recommendations of the ethnographic study on Nigerian and Ghanaian women working in Brussels’ red-light district
• Index