Black Sisters’ Street tells the story of four African women: Sisi, Efe, Ama and Joyce, who were taken to Belgium to work as commercial sex workers.  It talks about the transformation of these women in very realistic terms and paints an honest portrayal of these women who are considered as almost invisible in society.  I got a chance to chat with  Chika, here are some of the questions and answers from the discussion–in its rawest form.   I hope you enjoy the interview.  You can get her books from most online book stores, including Amazon.

Curiosity. The first time I saw the girls in lingerie behind their windows, I was stunned.  Coming from Nigeria where prostitution is very much underground, it was a cultural shock on a massive scale. I had never seen anything like it before. Then when I was told that a great majority of the African prostitutes in Antwerp were Nigerian girls from Benin City, I knew I had to write about it. The statistics are mind boggling. There is a new crop of middle class families cropping up in Benin City, mostly headed by women whose daughters are in Europe.

A lot. This was a world that was completely alien to me and the only way I could capture it well was by doing some field work.. I dressed up in a mini skirt and high boots and dragged my long suffering husband to the red light district. I visited a cafe out of which illegal Nigerian prostitutes worked and talked to the girls there. But I also spoke to the ones who worked out of legal brothels. It was an eye opening experience but it ultimately made me create a true world for my characters.

It changed me in a lot of ways. It made me more tolerant, less judgmental and much more grateful for the opportunities that I have (had). I was most moved by the fact that many of the girls work to give their families back in Nigeria a better life. If you are asking if I think prostitution should be legalized, then my response is yes. It is only fair that everyone who works, and benefits from a healthy social welfare should pay taxes and contribute to that welfare. Plus if there are going to be prostitutes, legalizing them keeps them a lot safer.

I think that differs from reader to reader. I wasn’t thinking “themes” when I wrote it. I just wanted to write a story that was both true and well crafted. I wanted to answer my own questions about my Bini sisters in Antwerp (in that sense this was a very selfishly written book) , but I was given a whole lot more, perhaps the three I identify with most is that of loneliness. Migration and loneliness go hand in hand , and at the beginning when I moved to Belgium, I was incredibly lonely.

Over two years and about  fourteen  re-writes. It cost me a lot of blood and sweat. Writing costs me a lot of energy as I edit quite a lot, and I agonize over every line but there is nothing else I would rather do.

I can’t prescribe what readers should take away from my book. Writing it changed me, and if I were to wish one thing,it would be that readers come out of it better than when they went in.

I earned my first fee from writing in 1999 for a short story I wrote for  BBC but I have always enjoyed scribbling.  I wrote poetry a lot as a kid, and short stories in an old journal I got from my father. I won essay competitions in secondary school . I was an avid reader and I was encouraged in that by my parents. I think most writers are avid readers.

Flora Nwapa  is my earliest influence. When I was in primary school, she would come to our class with a bunch of her children books to keep us entertained while the teacher was busy. She made me realize that writing was a career choice a woman could aspire to. I knew women doctors and lawyers and engineers, but she was the first woman writer I ever saw . I have quite an eclectic taste in books and there are many, many books I have read and learnt immensely from.

My book deals in particular with sex workers in Belgium, where the situation is different from other European countries where prostitution is not legal. I do not know much about the sex industry in Nigeria, because it is very underground , but I don’t suppose that in Nigeria prostitutes can stand around in knickers behind a showcase. The fact that it is not legal means that the girls are probably abused more. You can’t very well walk up to a policeman in , as a prostitute, and complain that a client hit you, for instance.

I am working on a collection of short stories dealing with issues of loneliness and loss.

Extra: Though Ms. Unigwe’s focus in her research and book were girls from Benin  (Nigeria) who were working in Antwerp as commercial sex workers – Nigerian women who work as commercial sex workers both in Nigeria and the Diaspora are from different regions of Nigeria and they go into this line of business for varied reasons.