24 July 2024 by Limpho Sello

Est. Read Time: 5m 28s

Listen to this article:

---

In the rural area of Mount Moorosi, Quthing, a braaied russian and quart of beer have become the currency of a troubling transaction.

Priced at just M6.00 for a russian and M25.00 for a quart of beer, they are often used to lure young girls into sexual activities, resulting in early and unplanned pregnancies.

Seoehla Koali is the area chief of Ha Koali in Mount Moorosi. “Here sex work is very common. The exchange starts from their clients buying them a sauced russian or a quart of beer in exchange for sex,” Chief Koali said.

He said that sex work and poverty are very common in this Mount Moorosi. According to the Lesotho Bureau of Statistics, more than two out of every five children in Lesotho are very poor in many ways.

The Lesotho 2021 Multidimensional Child Poverty Report, published by the Bureau of Statistics, highlights that these children lack basic needs in three or more areas of their lives. When looking at different districts, Quthing has the third highest rate of very poor children at 51 percent.

Chief Koali said poverty and hunger trigger sex work between poverty-stricken underage girls and older men.

He said hungry teenage girls often find themselves selling sex for a braaied russian or a quart of beer in a local economy primarily dependent on the taxi business and retail Chinese shops.

“They do not sell sex in exchange for money, the exchange is done with beer or that one russian to eat then the work continues,” he said.

The Lesotho Demographic Health Survey 2023-2024 Preliminary Results show that 13.8 percent of girls aged 15 to 19 in Quthing have had a live birth. However, the exact number of girls aged 15 to 19 in Quthing is not clear.

Meanwhile, the  United Nations Population Fund says every day in developing countries, 20,000 girls under age 18 give birth. This amounts to 7.3 million births a year. And if all pregnancies are included, not just births, the number of adolescent pregnancies is much higher.

Keneuoe Thinyane, the Sexual and Reproductive Health Services Mentor for the Quthing District Health Management Team, reported that early and unintended pregnancies are high among girls under 20 in Quthing. Thinyane noted that Mount Moorosi and Mphaki are the leading areas for teenage pregnancies in the district.

She pointed out that some girls as young as 13 have given birth at Quthing District Hospital. Despite several interventions, the high numbers of teenage pregnancies are not decreasing.

“We have observed that school dropouts and poverty are some of the contributing factors to these pregnancies,” Thinyane explained. She added that girls who drop out of school often leave the district for Ceres in Western Cape Province of South Africa, only to return to Lesotho pregnant.

Child headed families

Chief Seoehla Koali of Ha Koali in Mount Moorosi spoke to journalists during a field trip organised by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in Quthing. The trip aimed to give the media an opportunity to cover Sexual and Reproductive Health issues from the community perspective, including teenage pregnancies, child marriages, menstrual poverty, and Gender-Based Violence.

“One other thing that also accelerates this issue (teenage pregnancy) is the high number of child headed families in this place, where the older child becomes the caregiver and provider for younger children.

“So, the pressure of taking care of other small children pushes them to engage in sexual activities with men to get something in return,” Chief Koali told journalists on July 15, 2024.

The 2021 Lesotho Demographic Survey Report by the Bureau of Statistics found that there are 4,763 households in Lesotho where children are in charge because their parents are not there. In Quthing, 4.6 percent of these households are led by girls.

“Moreover, it is assumed that households headed by both women and children suffer greater poverty than those in households which conform with a more common male headed arrangement,” read the report.

Chief Koali believes that this troubling exchange between underage girls and their clients not only threatens the future of these young girls but also keeps them trapped in poverty and leads to more school dropouts, making the community’s socio-economic problems worse.

He said some parents, seeking employment in Ceres, South Africa, leave their children behind on their own. While some boys go to initiation schools, some girls drop out of school and resort to sex work.

“What makes matters worse is that these children are left alone. To survive, they go to the streets and sell sex to men,” Chief Koali said.

He mentioned that most dropouts are from primary school, and some do not even reach grade 10.

“At this young age, they cross the border, and that’s where they start sex work due to poverty.”

He shared a living example of an elderly woman, over 80 years old, who is left to care for her 15 young grandchildren.

“These young mothers come home to drop off their new babies and then return to South Africa, either to the Eastern Cape or Cape Town,” Chief Koali said.

“The living conditions for these babies are very disturbing. Many of them just poo near the house, and the elderly woman is too old and tired to properly monitor and care for them,” he added.

Community united  

“By tackling substance abuse and providing education and economic opportunities, the community can work towards breaking this cycle and securing a better future for its youth,” Chief Koali noted.

Keneuoe Thinyane, the Sexual and Reproductive Health Services Mentor for the Quthing District Health Management Team, shared that there are no adolescent corners in the district.

“But this is an issue we are working hard to address. The one in Quthing is in its final stage, and we are also establishing two more at St. Mathews Health Centre and Mphaki Health Centre,” Thinyane said.

Mathabo Thulo, a Village Health Worker, explained that health workers in the area educate women and girls about contraceptives.

“We teach them about contraceptives and encourage them to go and get them,” Thulo said.

“We don’t have contraceptives with us, but we believe that if we had supplies like pills and Sayana Press, it could reduce the high rate of teenage pregnancy here.”

According to the Lesotho Demographic Health Survey 2023 to 2024 Preliminary Results, the unmet need for family planning in Quthing is 14.8 percent, while the demand for family planning is at 81.3 percent.

Meanwhile, chief Koali said they are working with several non-governmental organisations to address some of the challenges in his area.

Help Lesotho, a civic group financially supposed by the United Nations Population Fund to carry out programs on Sexual Reproductive Health Services for youth and herd-boys, has previously helped the Mount Moorosi community.

Contacted for comment on July 23, 2024, Mount Moorosi legislator Thabiso Mosetlelo emphasised the urgent need to improve access to services, especially for people in the hard-to-reach areas of the constituency.

“Because I know the struggles here, I have raised some of these issues in the Parliamentary Committees. The Social Cluster Committee is one of the committees that has been very responsive to the challenges in this area,” Mosetlelo said.

He mentioned plans to open a youth centre in 2025, focusing on teaching handy crafts and computer literacy.

“We have already sent a proposal to the Ministry of Gender to allow us to use one of their buildings for this centre. This is one of our efforts to bring development to the district and constituency.

“If it works effectively and gets the necessary support from the government, these challenges can be eliminated.”

Mosetlelo also called on development partners to help address the widespread issues in Mount Moorosi.