The teenage girls walking the streets of Monrovia dream of a brighter future
Precious was 12 years old when she first sold sex, to a man nearly four times her age. Now 18, the schoolgirl says she sleeps with between five and six men on an average day to pay for her school fees, which are the cheapest available at 1,500 Liberian dollars ($198) per year. She receives between 25 and 50 Liberian dollars for each man.
'When I go on the street, men give me money and I can eat, pay my fees,' she said, her chin resting on her hands. 'It's almost five years since I've seen my family.'
After paying for her uniform and textbooks, some days there is only enough for one meal of rice - some days not even that. Amid 85 per cent unemployment, Precious is working in an overcrowded market. She is in the ninth grade.
Save the Children believes between 60 and 80 per cent of Liberian girls sell sex to fund their education and basic living costs. The charity says men prefer younger girls - who are thought to be cheaper, more pliable and less of a health risk - than their older sisters.
Research released by the group on Monday shows it costs half the income of an average Liberian family to educate one child for a year.
Liberia is a failed state. The epicentre of West Africa's conflicts, it has had no electricity, running water or land lines for 14 years. It has been shattered by decades of corruption and years of civil war, when drugged-up child soldiers rampaged through the capital. Sometimes they ate the hearts of enemy dead. A quarter of a million died.