Most women are forced into prostitution by circumstances
EDITOR: I wish to respond to Dora Byamukama’s article, "What exactly is prostitution" published on October 7. I would like to appreciate her interest and that of the Government on the matter of prostitution.
EDITOR: I wish to respond to Dora Byamukama’s article, "What exactly is prostitution" published on October 7. I would like to appreciate her interest and that of the Government on the matter of prostitution.
I commend Dora’s recommendation to carry out a study on how other countries are currently handling the issue of prostitution, taking into consideration social issues such as culture, religion, education and health. A lot of information on prostitution is available to all stakeholders, particularly the Government to come up with a concrete position on the practice.
I would like to highlight the following factors that government and other stakeholders should reflect on and use to mitigate the vice.
Prostitution is a practice of providing sexual services to another for payment or in return for money or material gains.
We at Help the Street Girl Uganda, expound this definition further to include exchange of sex for money, school fees, jobs, transport lifts, passing exams, etc or the use of one’s ability in a way that is not worthy of them. Women whose nude pictures appear in our media, girls in ‘bimansulo’ shows all fall in this scope.
The question we need to answer as stakeholders is, does the community, especially the people involved in this practice, know what it means or what its implications are? Why does prostitution continue to exist? My experience with girls and women who have found themselves on the streets of Kampala and other towns shows that most women caught up in the vice are poor, orphaned, homeless and many are pressured or coerced by pimps or traffickers.
The majority of them have been forced into the practice directly or indirectly. A woman might ask herself: "What is more immoral, letting my children die of hunger or selling what I have to keep them alive?†It is therefore the responsibility of all Ugandans to contribute to the wellbeing of our brothers and sisters.
Those who manipulate and abuse others should also reflect on the consequences of their actions to community.
Didas Kayiranga
DirectorHelp the Street Girl, Uganda
I commend Dora’s recommendation to carry out a study on how other countries are currently handling the issue of prostitution, taking into consideration social issues such as culture, religion, education and health. A lot of information on prostitution is available to all stakeholders, particularly the Government to come up with a concrete position on the practice.
I would like to highlight the following factors that government and other stakeholders should reflect on and use to mitigate the vice.
Prostitution is a practice of providing sexual services to another for payment or in return for money or material gains.
We at Help the Street Girl Uganda, expound this definition further to include exchange of sex for money, school fees, jobs, transport lifts, passing exams, etc or the use of one’s ability in a way that is not worthy of them. Women whose nude pictures appear in our media, girls in ‘bimansulo’ shows all fall in this scope.
The question we need to answer as stakeholders is, does the community, especially the people involved in this practice, know what it means or what its implications are? Why does prostitution continue to exist? My experience with girls and women who have found themselves on the streets of Kampala and other towns shows that most women caught up in the vice are poor, orphaned, homeless and many are pressured or coerced by pimps or traffickers.
The majority of them have been forced into the practice directly or indirectly. A woman might ask herself: "What is more immoral, letting my children die of hunger or selling what I have to keep them alive?†It is therefore the responsibility of all Ugandans to contribute to the wellbeing of our brothers and sisters.
Those who manipulate and abuse others should also reflect on the consequences of their actions to community.
Didas Kayiranga
DirectorHelp the Street Girl, Uganda