Nagra Plunkett and Noel Thompson, Gleaner Writers 
Chin
WESTERN BUREAU:
DESPITE THE taboo that surrounds it, prostitution is considered the oldest profession on earth and continues to put bread on the table of many Jamaican women, some by choice and for others, it is the only source of survival.
It was after midnight when the news team combed the streets of Montego Bay on Thursday, in search of commercial sex workers (CSW) to get a first-hand view of the implications of legalising the practice.
While the ultimate aim is to make mega bucks, with this comes the increasing risks of contracting sexually- transmitted infections and the deadly HIV/AIDS virus.
Interestingly, the parish of St. James, home of the tourist capital, is ranked as having the highest rate of HIV/AIDS infection per capita. Here, sexual liberation has grown with alternative lifestyles, particularly those of homosexuals being more tolerated than in the past.
"I don't agree with the authorities making it (prostitution) legal," said 27-year-old Chocolate, as she puffed on a cigarette.
Giving serious thought to the subject briefly, she remarked, "No sah. Prostitution not right. I don't think women should sell their body. More time mi feel a way, but a mi only means of surviving."
Her two children, the youngest being a two-year-old boy, stay with their grandaunt in Hanover while she scours Gloucester Avenue (popularly known as the Hip Strip) in search of clients. Her preference is foreigners and locals with money. She rakes in between $2,000-$11,500 from each customer.
"No low-life bwoy caan jump pon mi! I don't do oral sex," she added. "I am not a prostitute. If I see someone who can give me some money, I sleep with them."
Her suggestion for stemming the spread of the disease is abstinence and if you can't, then use a condom.
LEMONHAD MIXED VIEWS
"Legalise it? After a nuh whore alone a spread AIDS. What about the man dem who a sex man. It nuh matter to me cause this thing ya temporary," she stated.
Recently, business tycoon Lascelles Chin called on the Government to urgently examine legalising prostitution with a view to stemming the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Chin's view has long been echoed by officials of the Ministry of Health like Dr. Peter Figuero.
String Beanis 36 years old without any children. She is frustrated, not necessarily with being a sex worker, but that it has been a slow night for business. Her $4,000 package includes oral sex and the use of condoms.
But she concurs with Chocolate that there should be no move to legalise their practice, which she has been doing for the past seven years.
"It will only cause AIDS to spread more rapidly because people will think it is a free-for-all show," she said bluntly.
Speaking on the matter of risks involved, she revealed that she had been a victim of sexual battery two years ago. Three men raped and robbed her, when she was on her way home from work.
"My life was saved because I hid in bushes after I escaped," she concluded.
Names changed.
