Decriminalizing Sex Work, why it’s a must!

Criminalizing Sex Work and Sex Workers in Uganda has laid a foundation for disastrous human suffering and abuse of the fundamentally inalienable rights.

In Uganda, Sex Work is mainly criminalized under section 139 of the Penal Code Act, which prohibit and prescribes anyone convicted of engaging in Sex Work a maximum punishment of seven (7) years imprisonment.

Section 139 defines a “sex worker” to mean a person who, in public or elsewhere, regularly holds himself or herself out as available for sexual intercourse for monetary gain,-literally denying adults their right to body autonomy and privacy.

The existing criminalizing laws have been worsened by COVID-19 lockdown-curfew measures which has intensified targeting and abuse of Sex Workers especially in the Central region districts.

The consequences of criminalizing Sex Workers are endless, in this article, we have shared experience from different Sex Workers on how their lives have been affected as a result of working in a criminalizing environment.