2014-JAN-24-1313Hrs
About the Red Light District_ That's where "Gene and Dianh, Rosita and Clementina" lived. Its where Mr. Benwood Dick was appreciated, and where Sparrow Watered the Garden, and longed to "Eat ah White Meat". This has always been so.It is said that between 1941 and 1950 the presence of the American Base at Waller Field and Fort Read changed the complexion of Arimians, and to be lightskinned, particularly if your mother had no husband, implied a lot.
A parent can simply say that its a place where uneducated women, some imported from the Dominica Republic, Columbia and Venezuela (Called Butterskins in Antigua where they also flock;) go to have sexual relations with men for money, which gives them a bad reputation. The Santa Maria hotel is one such place. It is where girls end up who have neither education nor ambition, but want quick money.
They could also point out that every city in the world has a red light district. In Amsterdam, the women who are prostitutes sit in show windows, the way stores advertise their wares. Its usually a section of town, the calypso however implies that the whole country is one huge red light district. Which my friends tell me is true. Wherever oil money is to be found, from Guyaguyare to P.O.S., there are women willing to work for money in unusual postures, with your head not being on the top of your body, children too. My son who now lives in TnT was offered sex for box of fried chicken at the KFC on Brian Lara promenade by two young girls about ten each.
He was so shocked, he almost fainted.
Then there was the two who were buying ferry tickets to Tobago, two under twelves , alone. The ticket agent, being an upstanding man called the police and turned them over. They never admitted who gave them the money for the tickets, or who was meeting them. There was no parent involved.
Despite all of this, some parents refuse to talk with their children about these dangers.
Its time the parents woke up. Perhaps the kids could teach the parents about Red Light Districts.
Trinidad and Tobago has always exploited women, now its becoming a nationally approved pastime.
Of course, I have lived abroad for most of the last 45 years, and taught Family Planning Technology for a few years, including some frank discussions with students about sex. I see nothing wrong with a frank discussion with your child, who could now be so easily exploited by predators everywhere.
Linda E.Edwards
