By Mike Musisi Musoke and Tonny Evans Ngabo
Kyamuswa Member of Parliament Moses Kabuusu is set to table a bill seeking to protect sex workers against all forms of oppression and abuse which they encounter in the discharge of their chores.
This follows an outcry by the sex workers during last week’s meeting with human rights group representatives and leaders representing the interests of people living in the islands and on lake shores.
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The meeting which sat at Fairway Hotel in Kampala was convened by M/S Women Organisation Network for Human Rights Advocacy (WONETHA), to address complaints by sex workers.
Disclosing his resolve, MP Kabuusu noted that sex work has become an engagement that can no longer be handled in secrecy as it attracts women especially single mothers who have the responsibility of providing for their families, in addition to covering the vacuum of extending services to men in need.
In addition, Kabuusu said, sex work has long stopped to be a job for women only, and is now engaged in by men, which he said makes it imperative for the authorities to extend protection to the people involved.
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The sex workers reported that they are oppressed through non-payment by men who use them, rape, and refuse to use protective measures and in effect infecting them with sexually transmitted infections, and outright murder.
Among tormentors singled out by the sex workers are policemen whom they said entice them into sex encounters, and later refuse to pay them in addition to threatening them with arrests.
This is what drove MP Kabuusu to consider formulation of legislation for their protection and streamlining their operations.
He expressed his readiness to push for passing of this bill saying that giving the sex workers an operation forum with no hindrance is long overdue.
However, Entebbe Municipality MP Michael Kakembo Mbwatekamwa expressed dismay saying that many sex workers do their job in a manner which makes them look more as a nuisance, something he said must be addressed. Kakembo said by doing what they call a job, sex workers shouldn’t infringe on other people’s rights.
Sex workers are said to be in the habits of attacking female travelers they consider to be opponents, using uncouth language, wearing indecently and other forms of indiscipline.
At the meeting, WONETHA chairperson, Naome Mbareeba presented a petition outlining hurdles encountered in the execution of their duties, in addition to being denied treatment and justice in health units and at police.
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“In many occasions, when sex workers ran to police for help and seeking justice after experiencing any form of mistreatment from people they regard as their customers, including rape and assault, police officers just laugh at them instead of attending to them positively. Many ask how can a sex worker be raped? That is not right,” she urged.
And the chairperson for Wakiso Human Rights Network, Elly Kasirye added his voice to that of the sex workers and out rightly denounced what he called an inhuman manner in which sex workers are arrested by security agencies. He hailed MP Kabuusu for his decision and said it has been long overdue.
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