She was introduced to the trade by her sister-in-law who conspired with a man to rape her one night. I think she wanted to kill me. She forced me into prostitution," Asiimwe says. She sells tea at a local market and earns a profit of sh1, on average. Kemigisha, 20, is another beneficiary. She started sex trade at When she got pregnant, her parents gave her a choice to either stay but give the baby to the father or to stay with her baby but leave their home. She opted to keep the baby. Kemigisha now sells produce in a local market.
The prostitutes are mainly aged between 13 and Some of them rent houses in the town and trading centres where their customers can easily access them. However, in Kabarole, the prostitutes cannot be easily traced by a stranger in the town. A customer has to employ the services of boda boda riders, who will transport him to the nearest trading centre where they are.
Their services go for between sh and sh1, A boda boda rider comes and she goes with him. Kasese locals attribute child prostitution to the Allied Defence Forces ADF and the post-war poverty, which affected the district between and During the war, many died, living behind many orphans and vulnerable children. Many girls were forced out of school for marriage. Some became mothers and also had to fend for their siblings.
The findings of the study, done in six parishes of Bugoye sub-county in Kasese, have also been used to develop sexual, reproductive health programmes to stamp out prostitution. The study revealed that child prostitutes are a most vulnerable group of children compared to others like orphans and the teenage mothers. Child prostitutes are discriminated against and ridiculed. The study, which was disseminated among the district stakeholders, reports that some medical workers in Kasese were reluctant to offer health services to the prostitutes saying it was a waste of government's drugs.
Businessmen also sidelined the teenage prostitutes. Most married women accused them of infecting their husbands with HIV. She says prostitution is a taboo among the Bakonzo and nobody bothers to understand their plight. She also says most of the child prostitutes NAYODE mobilised said if they had something else to do to earn a living, they would willingly give up sex trade.
