Sex for food. Sex for fees. Sex for grades. Sex for salvation. Sex for a job. The world we live in has made life really difficult for some women. It is disheartening to watch exposes of how men use their positions to manipulate and abuse women. Mercy was a young girl when her parents passed on and as the firstborn, the responsibility to raise her three young siblings lay on her shoulders. Family friends and relatives offered support and promised Mercy and her siblings would never lack. Little did she know what they were eyeing. Every door she knocked on had a man waiting to pounce on her. The fees came, the food too, but at her expense. She was introduced to sex early in life, had several abortions and ended up infected with STDS. Agatha grew up in a war-ravaged country. Her village being the most affected had a huge contingent of peacekeepers residing there. Like many war situations with peacekeepers and aid workers, household items had to be shared in rations. She witnessed women being coerced to sleep with men for an extra bar of soap or salt. Natalie graduated from university with good marks and looked forward to getting into her first employment; she assumed that was natural for a young hardworking woman with good grades. On the contrary, she was asked out on a date severally, instead of being appreciated as someone who could deliver. Instead of being given a job, the men wanted to ‘know her better!’ As Natalie was graduating her coursemate Peruth was told she could not graduate because some of her results were missing. She recalls threats she was given by a male lecturer who wanted to sleep with her. He told her how he had ‘helped’ many women even those with poor results to graduate and assured her he could mess with her future. Indeed, she watched on as her friends graduated. A young lady who has been in the sex trade for a few years desires to change her life, she would like to discover the savior that people preach about. One sunny afternoon her friend leads her to one of the prominent churches where she is invited for a private prayer session with the senior pastor. With only the two of them in the room, the senior pastor she has gone to for help in discovering the right path touches her inappropriately and wants to have ‘a thing’ with her. She went for salvation, she’s being offered sex. A lady somewhere asked for a lift to the town she ended up being raped. Another while undergoing treatment was abused by her doctor. In Hollywood, when one wanted to be given a role in a big TV show, the producer asked for a ‘small’ favor. According to BBC’s Africa Eye, it took one year to piece up together the story of professors at UNILAG and The University of Ghana messing up with their students; just imagine how many incidents went or go un-captured because a lot more students still exist and so does the ‘cold room’ in homes, churches, and offices.
