Sex slavery in Kalangala

Mar 22, 2007

GIRLS as young as 10 years old are being taken to Kalangala Islands for commercial sex, Kalangala Woman MP, Ruth Kavuma, told Parliament yesterday.

By Mary Karugaba

GIRLS as young as 10 years old are being taken to Kalangala Islands for commercial sex, Kalangala Woman MP, Ruth Kavuma, told Parliament yesterday.

She said the girls are being ferried to the islands by individuals who promise them jobs.

“The girls are lured from all parts of the country and are taken to the islands, where no one can see them. They are mainly ferried to Nakibanga, Kachanga, Misonze and Kitubo landing sites. Recently we arrested a woman with two young girls, aged 10, from Arua district.”

She explained that the girls were first taken to work in hotels as receptionists and later turned into commercial sex workers. “These girls come as far as West Nile.”

Kavuma was speaking during a presentation by Family Life Network about laws and policies related to adolescent sexual and reproductive health.

The members of the Social Service Committee were moved when two adolescent mothers and a former commercial sex worker narrated their ordeals.

“I got pregnant at the age of 13, while in senior two,” said 17 year-old Grace.

“The man started giving me simple gifts. I did not know anything about pregnancy. I was chased from home and started wandering from place to place until a friend came to my rescue.”

Grace managed to go back to school with the help of Family Life Network.

“When I became pregnant at the age 15, my parents said they did not want to see me again. I started selling my body for as little as sh500,” said Biirah, a crafts dealer.

The Executive director of Family Life Network, Stephen Langa, said there was need to sensitise parents to change their attitudes towards pregnant girls.

The project manager, Lillian Ssengoba, proposed that the punishments for defilers should vary according to age. “Defilers are usually relatives, which makes it hard for the victims to report to the authorities. Let the punishments vary so that the victims, who get children, are provided for by the fathers of the children.”

MPs Francis Epetait and Jane Alisemera proposed that defilement laws should be strengthened.

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