A sex worker raid was conducted in the Mchinji district - the eastern part of Malawi, bordering Zambia - on Wednesday, December 14.

It took many by surprise because, unlike other operations, this one was carried out mid-week when people least expected it. The sex workers who were captured were all ladies.

According to John Ali Gama, a resident of Mchinji and worker at Oakland Beer Den, the police arrived at around 10 p.m. when most sex workers were already in their rented rooms. It is a custom in this town for sex workers to rent in rest houses near beer drinking joints as a way of eluding the authorities.

The police went room by room, arresting all sex workers. Hadson Chisati (popularly known as Gumbwa), a worker at a nearby bar confirmed that the police arrived at his workplace. He said, since the incident happened at night, claimed that there were over twenty sex workers captured at his establishment.

Mchinji district being a border area is very advanced with micro-businesses despite being a remote district. This has lead most youth to drop out of school and consequently end up in prostitution. According to Mirriam Mulenga, a worker with the Population Services International of Malawi, this district is ranked fourth in terms of prostitution out of the 28 districts in the country.

Should these sex workers be found guilty, they will each pay a fine of MK5,000 (about US$30.) Currently, all sex workers are in police custody waiting to appear before court.