Nightlight

Voice 1:
Thank you for joining us for today’s Spotlight. I’m Liz Waid.

Voice 2:
And I’m Rebekah Schipper. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.

Voice 4:
“The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.”

Voice 1:
Nightlight is a group that works with sex workers in Bangkok, Thailand. The members of Nightlight bring light to the dark world of the sex industry. Today’s Spotlight is on Nightlight.

Voice 2:
Pim used to be a sex worker in Bangkok. She told the BBC her story*.

Voice 3:
I grew up in the country. I lived with my parents. They were farmers. I helped them in the fields. We were poor. But we always had enough money to live.

When I was fifteen [15] my family started to fall apart. My father drank alcohol a lot, but it became worse and worse. He started becoming violent. So, my mother, sister and I moved out.

I wanted to study to become a health worker. But I had to leave school when my parents separated. I found a job as a day labourer, harvesting crops for a local farmer. I did not like the job. It paid only a small amount each day.

At about that same time my friend moved to Bangkok. When she returned for a visit she told me she was earning a lot of money. She said she was serving food. But, people in the village began talking. They said that she was doing something other than serving food.

My friend asked me to come to Bangkok with her to work. At that time I was too young and afraid. But a few years later I had given birth to a daughter. And my husband and I had separated. So, I changed my mind. I went to Bangkok.

I left my baby with my mother and told her I was going to earn money. But I did not tell my mother what I was doing for the money. I still have not told her. She would be so ashamed.

Voice 1:
In Bangkok Pim became a sex worker. She had sex with men for money. She sent money home to her mother and baby. Many women around the world are sex workers like Pim. Some of them feel that it is the only way to make money. It is the only way to support themselves and their families. But sometimes people force women to be sex workers. People buy, sell and trade women. They use women as sex slaves.

Voice 2:
Most women do not want to be sex workers. It is a dark world. It is a world filled with shame, violence, and fear. Pim said,

Voice 3:
“I wish I had never become a sex worker. I think some foreign men think it is okay to pay for sex in Thailand. They think the girls actually want to do this. But these men do not understand that most of us have no choice. We are just trying to earn money for our families and waiting for the chance to leave.”

Voice 1:
Nightlight is a group in Thailand. Members of Nightlight understand that the life of a sex worker can be difficult and dangerous. They understand that most women would like to have a different life. That is why Nightlight works to take women off the streets. Nightlight helps women learn skills and start a new life. Nightlight helps bring women out of the dark, and into the light.

Voice 2:
Nightlight works in an area of Bangkok that has a growing sex business. Many women and children work in very poor conditions here. Their lives are very difficult.

Voice 1:
But Nightlight works to improve their lives. The group offers job training and education to sex workers.