Sporting knee-high boots and red lipstick, Sharon opens her coat into the headlights of an oncoming car to expose body-hugging leopard-print lingerie, prompting the vehicle to screech to a halt. Police have also launched surprise raids on pubs and nightclubs dotted around the city centre, rounding up women believed to be commercial sex workers. In the dimly lit pubs, with their purple fluorescent lights and deafening music, half-naked women gyrate to the fast local beat to entice potential clients.
The crackdown has courted widespread resentment, outraging women and rights groups who say the police operation is sexist and is being implemented unfairly. Residents complain that police target women simply because they are walking alone at night, without male company. The survey found 85 percent of prostitutes in Zimbabwe said they had suffered extortion at the hands of law enforcement agents.
Police spokesman Inspector Tadius Chibanda denied the harassment claims, urging women to report such treatment by officers. On the first day, the campaign netted 60 people charged with soliciting for the purposes of prostitution. They were later fined and freed by a Harare magistrate. Netty Musanhu, director of the Musasa Project, an NGO that fights gender-based violence in Zimbabwe, questioned why police are not arresting customers.
Officers often camp outside pubs to pounce on any woman leaving with male company, but have been known to let the men walk away without charge. But the police spokesman Chibanda said both the alleged prostitutes and their male clients were often detained. By Gift Phiri. Published On 20 May 20 May Sponsored Content.
