NEARLY half of the prostitutes in South Africa’s key city of Johannesburg and a quarter of those in Cape Town are children. About 40% of the 10000 sex workers in Johannesburg are under 18 years old, The House Group — an independent organisation which works with prostitutes — told a weekend newspaper. The Sex Workers’ Education and Advocacy Taskforce (SWEAT) in Cape Town said that at least 1000 of the city’s 4000 sex workers were children. “The increase in poverty has resulted in an increase in the number of children exposed to physcial and sexual abuse,” said SWEAT’s Glynis Rhodes. “Children run to the streets to escape abuse and are often forced into prostitution to survive. “There is also an increase in hidden prostitution. These children have regulars who pick them up for sex in exchange for something as basic as a burger,” Rhodes said.