Brussels city authorities have decided to name a street in the country after a Nigerian sex worker who was stabbed to death by a teenager.
Late Eunice Osayande, who was stabbed to death by a client in June 2018 came to the Belgian capital in 2016, after receiving promises of work and a brighter future in Europe. She believed that the men who invited her there are the owners of film and film production companies and that they will make her a movie star. But unknown to her, they were human traffickers.
Once in Brussels, she was immediately forced into prostitution. She was told she owed the smuggling gang 45,000 euros. In the weeks leading up to her death, she called a sex worker’s charity and told them she was subjected to violence and intimidation at work. She was afraid to go to the police because she was an illegal immigrant.
In June 2018, when she was 23, Osayande was stabbed 17 times by a client in the Gare du Nord region.
Soon, protests erupted, led by the community of migrant sex workers in Brussels. The rallies demanded better working conditions and called on local authorities to enact clear laws and guidelines for the sector.
Prostitution is legal in Belgium but there are no uniform national laws and rules regulating it.
Maxime Maes, director of the union of sex workers in Brussels, was among the organizers of the protests. “The death of Osayande was very sad, especially for the illegal immigrants in the area where she works,” she told the BBC.
“The region has witnessed increasing violence, and the most marginalized women have been targeted,” she added.
A 17-year-old was charged with the murder of Osayande, and is still awaiting trial. Four members of the human trafficking gang were also arrested, and in January of this year, they were sentenced to prison terms of up to four years.
By naming a new street after Osayande, the city of Brussels said it aimed to draw attention to all the “forgotten women who have been victims of human trafficking, sexual violence, and murder”.
This will be the first street named after a sex worker in the country, according to the Belgian broadcaster RTPF. The street, located north of Brussels, will also be part of an ongoing initiative by the municipal council to name more areas after women.
The council has already named a series of streets after several prominent women, including resistance fighters Yvonne Nevegan and Andre de Jong, and one bridge has been named after Suzanne Daniel, a Belgian LGBT activist.
But Anas Persons, a member of the Brussels (Aldroman) city council, said: “Feminism for us is not just about outstanding women.”
She added, “Inclusive feminism revolves around women’s rights and their struggles on all social levels.”
Pearsons noted that 42 percent of women aged 16 to 69 in Belgium had experienced physical sexual violence at some point. And she added, “This percentage is much higher among sex workers. This is exactly the reason why we named a street after Eunice Osayande.”
The street is still under construction, and it will be officially opened in the next few months. The city council says it will invite sex workers and immigrant communities to speak at the Eunice Osayande Street Opening Ceremony.
May her soul continue to find rest.
