A study conducted by a Colombian university revealed that 2% of female students in the Caribbean city of Cartagena would consider prostitution to support their studies.
The study, conducted by the University of San Buenaventura, confirmed that there were some 5,000 university students in Cartagena which would indicate by the percentage that about 100 would be prepared to sell their bodies, reported newspaper El Tiempo.
The research coodinator for the survey also revealed that the girls who did engage in prostitution often did not do so purely for economic reasons.
The ‘University Sex Workers’, as the survey labelled them, appeared to be predominantly beautiful women between the ages of 18 and 25, from upper-middle class backgrounds who were not in finacially precarious circumstances.
The girls target wealthier men who will provide them with the money they would require for luxuries such as clothes, cosmetic surgery, cars and attractive appartments.
According to Professor Acuna, the girls earn on average 10 million COP per month depending on the client and the service required. “They attend classes, sit examinations, complete the academic program whilst also providing a popular service for tourists” Acuna added.
The Professor claimed that curiously, the girls claim to be able to maintain relationships with actual boyfriends while entertaining clients when it is required.
However, behind the luxurious curtain, the study asserted that the girls “have been spoiled but not loved” and frequently they were victims of child abuse and neglect.
The University concluded that is was hard for this issue to be dealth with and the girls struggle to break out of the world of prostitution because they are reluctant to receive psychiatric help as well as preferring the prosperous way of life.
