James Mwesigye, the Kasese Resident District commissioner, says the sex workers are evil and are spreading immorality throughout the district. He also accuses them of being behind the rise in insecurity in Kasese. As chairman of the district security committee, Mwesigye has directed the police to arrest all sex workers, particularly those who operate along Stanley Street in Kasese town. During the meeting, James Mwesigye urged the sex workers to abandon their trade. He said they should join savings and credit cooperative organizations and obtain loans to set up other businesses.
He said it was a curse for a woman to sell her body on the streets. Kirabo said he was opposed to meetings of the kind in Kasese and accused the NGOs of promoting immorality. However, Daisy Nakato, a former sex worker who is now employed by the Women's Organization Network for Human Rights Advocacy, said the solution to sex trade isn't to berate and ostracize those involved.
She said many young women turn to prostitution because they do not have any other way to earn a living. Nakato said many girls leave home because of extreme poverty or domestic violence. She explained that although they try to find other ways to survive, sex trade offers the easiest options for them to make money.
Nakato said that instead of vilifying the sex workers, law enforcement officers should treat them as human and speak to them about alternative lifestyles. The Women's Organization Network for Human Rights Advocacy is lobbying parliament and community-based groups to support a proposed amendment to the Penal Code that would decriminalize prostitution.
Nakato said the amendment is not intended to legalize sex trade, but to protect vulnerable women caught up in it. Section of the Penal Code Act prescribes a seven year imprisonment for anyone found guilty of prostitution.
