Kampala, Uganda β Down a muddy alley in a slum in Wabiduku on the eastern edge of Kampala, past vendors hawking bits of fried fish and rubber flip flops, sits a bright, pink shipping container. This unexpectedly colourful place in the Ugandan capital is operated by the Lady Mermaid Empowerment Centre. It is an organisation led by sex workers fighting to decriminalise their profession while documenting violations and providing free contraceptives and counselling.
It works with 25, women annually, spread across hot spots β street corners, bars, brothels and lodges β in Kampala and two other districts. Her task is a difficult one in a conservative country where prostitution is outlawed under the colonial-era penal code, punishable by up to seven years in prison. Sex workers live on the margins of Ugandan society, in danger of abuse by their clients, stigma from their neighbours and disdain from a police force meant to protect them.
She offers cups of tea; a place to rest and a shower; informational brochures to read. When evening sets in, the women return to brothels a short walk away. The lodges are made of rickety clapboards, constructed atop dark bars painted with fluorescent images of naked, dancing women.
Children play in dank corners. The lights of the city glimmer in the distance. Aaliyah began sex work at Her parents had died, leaving her with two younger siblings to look after.
A man promised to marry her and help care for the children, so she slept with him. Afterwards, he changed his mind, advising her instead to make money selling her body. She became pregnant from the assault, giving birth in her early teens. Her parents later declared that she must marry her uncle to save the family from shame. In dance clubs, she looked for men who could provide a meal or a warm place to sleep. Eventually, older women taught her how to get consistent clients, offering a room and teaching her the ropes of the job.
