8 Ugandan Sex Workers
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Is criminalization of commercial sex work in Uganda an answer? A case study of commercial sex workers in Kampala District Betty Kyokunzire Supervisor: Professor Julie Stewart Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Masters degree in Women’s Law, Southern and East African Regional Centre for Women’s Law University of Zimbabwe MARCH 2006 1 2 Dedication To my best friend and loving husband Timothy Halango for the care, love, support, advice and encouragement for all the years I have known you. Thank you very much for being there for me during my ‘lows’ and ‘highs’ especially when everybody disowned me. I will remain indebted to you for ever. 3 Acknowledgements First and foremost, I thank the almighty God for seeing me through this course of Masters in Wom- en’s Law programme, despite my trying times. May the glory be to you God. I wish to extend my deepest heart felt appreciation to NORAD for the financial and material support without which I would not have been able to attend this eye opening course on Women’s Law Programme at SEARCWL University of Zimbabwe. I am extremely grateful to my supervisor Professor Julie Stewart for her guidance and ideas, this study would not have been possible without her contributions. To the entire staff of Southern and Eastern African Regional Centre for Women’s Law ( SEARCWL) Dr. Amy Tsang, Rudo , Cecilie, Blessing , Sesezdai and Johnson thank you for your support throughout this course. To my employer, the Inspector General of Police, because it would have been impossible to under- take this course if he had not accorded me study leave and support during this course. I appreciate it from the bottom of my heart. To my father Mr. Bavis Bitarinsha, I extend my gratitude to you for laying a foundation in my education. Without your tireless support and hard work this course would not have been possible for me. I also owe my gratitude to my course mates especially residents of Basil Fletcher Courts for their support and encouragement throughout this course and for accepting to leave their ‘goggling’ busi- ness for the sake of their education. As Prof. always said, we are getting there, now I am saying we are finally there at long last. Michael and Anselm my fellow Ugandan course mates I am extremely happy for your support, company and assistance while we were ‘maforeigners’. To Millicent Mrs Odeny, for your moral support and encouragement especially when I was going through emotional stress. Thank you very much and may God bless you abundantly. The Ugandan community in Harare, Kyazze, James, Deborah and George thanks for the hospitality. UZ Ugandan students, especially Patrick Olowo thank you for orienting us in Harare. To all police officers, men and women, my respondents who were willing to be interviewed despite the inconveniences I caused during their working hours. All those persons who assisted me during this study and are not mentioned here by name, I wish to say thank you for your time and support. Last but not least, I owe invaluable gratitude to my sweet heart Timothy who tolerated months of separation during our early years together. You were always there for me even when I felt I needed to give up. I can’t measure your care, love, advice, encouragement, and understanding. May we grow older together, falling in love with you a little more each time and waiting to see what hand- some husband you will become. Maita basa Shamwari. 4 Contents CHAPTER ONE What to do about commercial sex work ................................................................... 9 CHAPTER TWO Perspectives on commercial sex work ................................................................... 13 CHAPTER THREE The methodological frameworks ............................................................................ 21 CHAPTER FOUR Commercial sex work is a reality in Kampala: Men seek out the services of sex workers ................................................................................................................... 27 CHAPTER FIVE: The way it is ........................................................................................................... 37 CHAPTER SIX ‘A solution to everything’ ...................................................................................... 42 5 List of international instruments Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) (1981) Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1976) International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1976). Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others (1951). CEDAW Committee, General Recommendation no. 19. Commission on Human Rights on the Status of Women List of Acts The Constitution of the Republic of Uganda (1995) The Penal Code Act Laws of Uganda Cap (106) List of tables Table 1: Respondents interviewed in group discussions. Table 2: Categories of clients. Table 3: Peak hours of operation Table 4: Respondents with regular customers. Table 5: Level of education of the respondents. Table 6: Age of respondents interviewed and their marital status. Table 7: Attitude of the general public on regulating, legalizing or decriminalizing commercial sex work List of acronyms AIDS acquired immune deficiency syndrome CEDAW Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women HIV human immune-deficiency virus. ILO International Labour Organization. UNESCO United Nations Educational Scientific Cultural Organization 6 1- Kansanga 2- Kabala gala 3- Kibuye 4- Bwaise 5- Wandegeya 6- Kampala road 7- Industrial area (location of discotheques) 7 8 CHAPTER ONE What to do about commercial sex work The illegal status of commercial sex workers in Uganda currently renders them vulnerable to exploitation, as they have no recourse to any protection from the law or society. Many activists and other people argue that sex workers need to be protected under the labour laws to ensure they receive at least a minimum wage and are guaranteed fair working hours. In practical terms, instead of criminalization, legalizing, regulating and decriminalizing commercial sex work in Uganda would improve working conditions and the health and safety of commercial sex workers. They would be able to be organized more easily and could negotiate more safely with clients knowing that the police would protect them as citizens rather than harass them as criminals. In a society and economy where commercial sex work has already become common and is the highest paid source of income for unskilled women and girls, any attempt to suppress the industry without providing sound eco- nomic alternatives can only fail. Commercial sex work in Uganda is an offence under section 136(1) of the Penal Code Act which makes it an offence punishable by a seven-year imprisonment term. Is this a fair law? What can be done to ensure that the law is fair to women commercial sex workers in Kampala district and Uganda as a whole? Operations to arrest, prosecute and imprison commercial sex workers put a strain on the financial and human resources of the police and the country as a whole, amidst competing demands, yet the results of the police action do not reflect its efforts. Decriminalization of commercial sex work refers to total decriminalization, that is, the repeal of laws against consensual adult sexual activity in commercial and non-commercial contexts. Commercial sex work advocates call for decriminalization of all aspects of commercial sex work resulting from an individuals’ decision. Advo- cates for decriminalization of commercial sex work claim that laws against pimping (living off the earning) are often used against domestic partners and children, and these laws serve to prevent commercial sex workers from organizing their business and working together for mutual protection. They call for the repeal of current laws that interfere with their rights of freedom of travel and freedom of association. Civil rights and human rights advocates from a variety of perspectives call for enforcement of laws against fraud, abuse, violence and coercion to protect commercial sex workers from abusive, exploitative partners and management (Elaine, 2004). This approach of decriminalization would promote and protect the human rights of commercial sex workers by removing the oppressive power of the state and exploitative power of criminals. One does not necessarily have to accept the view that sex work is a legitimate form of work in order to agree with decriminalization. One need only agree that, until women no longer live under patriarchy, the best way to protect commercial sex workers’ rights is to empower the women to protect themselves. Women who can work legally are more likely to be in control of their own working conditions, such as the number of customers per day, the price to charge and use of condoms (Ann, 2000). The approach of legalization from a sociological perspective refers to a system of criminal regulations and government control of commercial sex work, where certain commercial sex workers are given licences which permit them to work in specific and usually limited ways. Although legalization can also imply a decriminalized, autonomous system of commercial sex work, in reality, in most ‘legalized’ systems the police are relegated the job of commercial sex work control through criminal codes. Laws regulate the commercial sex work business and leave prescribing health checks and registration