I suppose our eyes have got used to seeing the ladies of jardin de la Compagnie. Actually, I believe we do not even see them anymore. Even a number of policemen just ignore them. At least, they do as if they have not seen them.

The prostitutes might have felt ? and may still feel ? that this attitude is not so bad after all. As their profession is illegal, they must be relieved that the police do not ?notice? them. The furthest the police are from these ladies, the better they must feel.

But this obvious indifference has undeniably a negative side. Cindy?s attack last Monday speaks for itself. This lack of concern from the police prevents them from coming to the rescue of prostitutes if anything happens to them. Unless they do not want to be involved? Or unless some of them actually inflict violent abuse on prostitutes ? this unfortunately happens!

Nothing is done for streetwalkers for one main reason: they are not considered as ?respectable people? by society. The conformists might believe that prostitutes only reap what they have sown. After all, if they led a ?normal life?, they would not be victims of such violence. But if they could earn a living ?normally?, I suppose they would not put their lives in jeopardy just for the sake of it.

Their job is indeed a dangerous one. Not only are they confronted with various forms of violence ? they can be raped or beaten up by customers who do refuse to pay or by their pimps? but their day-to-day life can also become an ordeal.

In order to make their lives acceptable in their own eyes, many of them are trapped in the inferno of alcohol and drugs. They prefer to live in the haze rather than be caught up with reality ? such a sad reality?

The question remains: what could be done to put an end to this distress? There seem to be two possibilities: prostitution should be either prohibited concretely and effectively or it should be legalised. Of course, those are extreme measures but they might be the only ones that would solve the problem of violence.

In fact, prostitution is prohibited under Mauritian law but there is a lack of conviction in implementing the law. The oldest profession in the world still exists and is not going to disappear soon. As a result, legalising prostitution could be at least a short-term solution.

Making of prostitution a legal activity does not mean that it should expand. The aim of such an action would be only to protect women?s dignity and life. The fact that they use their body to earn a living does not mean that they have no right to dignity. A prostitute also has the right to say No without being subjected to any violence.

Legalising prostitution would also be a means of saying what everybody knows after all : prostitutes exist and they must be protected like any other citizen from any kind of abuse.