Two Dollars With or Without A Condom (1997)

1997. 40 minutes. Ethiopia. Produced by SVT. Documentary

Ethiopia has become to the Arab world what Thailand is to European tourists. Prostitution in Ethiopia has increased incredibly in recent years. In one section of Addis Ababa, some 130,000 girls support themselves by selling their bodies. Most of them are under eighteen, and many even under fourteen.

In this probing documentary we meet the victims, girls that have been orphaned, or thrown out by their family, or are hoping to find a better life. Virtually all the girls are HIV positive. Condoms are seldom used, even though they are distributed free in many places. Customers, believing the youngest girls are HIV-free, seek them out, which in term keeps lowering the age of girls becoming HIV infected. Some attempts by agencies are being made to help these girls, but they face heavy odds.