What has caused more open discussion recently is that with the "coming of HIV/AIDS" its spread has been linked partly with the activities of prostitutes and ways of keeping an eye on these "sex workers" have become part of the challenge in curbing the spread of the disease.

The suggestion of having prostitutes "registered and licensed" for the was doubly awkward since it was implied that the move should only be for the season of . It would be laughable in so doing to think that after the we could then go back to re-criminalise the activity.

The Prime Minister of St Kitts, Nevis, Dr Denzil Douglas, has also come out against any registration or legalising of prostitutes for the , but it is instructive that in so doing, he still spoke of the need for "serious discussion" of the issue. It will be recalled that Douglas, who has lead responsibility for health in CARICOM, spoke in favour of decriminalising prostitituion and homosexuality after attending a recent world conference on HIV/AIDS in Canada. He saw this as a move that could help remove the stigma linked to HIV/AIDS.

What we all know is that for generations prostitution has prevailed long before any talk about having it legalised and it will continue to do so if only because there is a demand created for prostitutes. This is why it is amusing that when prostitutes refer to themselves as "sex workers" and others cry shame of them, it makes no difference to the "sex workers" since they know they will be in demand in many places.

Atherley has warned that anyone coming to Barbados to engage in prostitution will be arrested. This is quite in order. The difficulty is that with so many people expected to come to Barbados and throughout the Caribbean for the it will not be easy to tell who is coming to watch the games and who will be here for "the games people play".

We manage to arrest prostitutes, sex workers or whatever when we find them in places providing such services, but the sex trade is a lot more sophisticated than just that of women hanging around street corners or doing their business in clubs in a "red light" district.

Just as we have the problem of not being able to tell who has HIV/AIDS by "just looking", it is not that easy to just look and decide if a woman is a prostitute or sex worker.

It is also not that easy to tell who is a whoremonger. These are the people who create the demand wherever they go and there will be whoremongers coming here and throughout the other islands for the .

It is one of the ironies in our society that we are most tolerant of whoremongers but are prepared to go to extremes when dealing with the whores, sex workers or whatever.

Sex workers would be out of business if there were no whoremongers. Promiscuity on the part of our men seldom attracts the opprobium it deserves simply because for generations it was accepted as the "manly" thing to do.

The coming of HIV/AIDS has forced us to take new guard and call on men and women to be faithful to one partner but for years it was no big thing if men were unfaithful.

Added to that, many men of earlier generations accepted it as "a rite of passage" to manhood by being able to boast of sleeping with a prostitute.

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