In the favelas of Lagos, Nigeria, indescribable poverty reigns. About 1,2 million citizens are HIV positive. Among them are thousands of prostitutes who sleep with men without protection because they pay more.
Prostitutes infected with HIV in Nigeria's largest city, Lagos, sleep with five or more men a day. Condoms are rarely used, and unprotected sex is often practiced because it makes more money.
"If you come by car, you can smell HIV from outside," joked a taxi driver on the way to Pema Badija, a slum known for its crime.
Nigeria is a poor country with about 140 million people, and after India and South Africa, it has the largest number of people infected with the HIV virus.
The epidemic began in 2000, and since then millions of people have died in Nigeria. The worst situation is in Lagos, where 1,2 million people are infected.
Girls as young as 14 work in the favelas of Lagos to survive. They receive two to five customers. The younger the girl, the more expensive she is. Men come to them as if they were visiting a bakery. In five minutes they're out with the hatch unzipped.
The most beautiful and attractive people go out in the evening when the bars open and look for a rich white man, usually someone ugly and fat, but with "deep pockets".
Those girls have only one customer for the night, they earn 50 to 100 euros and go with him to his house or hotel. Prostitutes and clients are in the high-risk group of the HIV epidemic.
If condoms are used, they are of terrible quality and most often do not fulfill their function. Most women are pregnant or suffering from serious venereal diseases. A local doctor performs abortions for them for 1 euro, but most of them die during the procedure or have severe complications.
Prostitutes are actually very little aware of the dangers of AIDS. Although they have seen a large number of girls die, very few people are actually tested.
"I stopped going to school in the second year of high school. My parents are very poor and can't afford to educate me. I've been here for three months now. I had no experience, so I couldn't find any work. I had no money for food, so the only option was to become a prostitute. I went to Badia because nobody knows me there. I find a white man in the bars and spend the whole night with him for 50 euros. I tell everyone that I'm 26. I hope to collect enough money for the next year," Cynthia John said.
Most often, girls in favelas start working at the age of 12, the price is low and they do not use protection. Most are infected and work for pimps who provide them with some sort of protection.
One of the prostitutes told how she had to stop studying at the age of 11 because there was no more money at home.
"It hit me hard because I was good at school and my parents are very poor so I was forced to earn my own money. I tried to sell small cakes (cup cakes) on the street but it wasn't enough. Now I've been working for five months as a prostitute, and my clients think I'm 20 years old. My parents don't know about it, and I've never seen them again," she said.
By 2050, Nigeria should become the third most populous country in the world. Demographic experts say that the population will grow by an incredible 178 percent, and by the middle of the 21st century, it will have as many as 440 million inhabitants. This is not surprising because only 10 percent of married women use contraception, and the average Nigerian woman gives birth to almost six children.
The government is worried about population growth and they hope to reduce the population growth rate by two percent by 2018.
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