As already noted, the outbreak of coronavirus has affected all aspects of life from social, political religious and economical. All kinds of businesses have been affected by the pandemic, and this includes businesses of the night by service providers that prefer to refer to themselves as ‘self-employed.’
The Presidential ban on mass gatherings and the night life meant that these ladies of the night would have it rough, and no, not in the way you are thinking, but in a way of having less to no activity. In Uganda, these ‘self-employed’ ladies display their ‘goods’ in or around night clubs and bars. The closure of these places mean less to no customers.
In order to stay safe, Diana Natukunda, the Head of Women Organisation Network for Human Rights Advocacy, an organisation that strives for the rights of prostitutes in Uganda has advised them to suspend their ‘services’ until the pandemic is defeated.
“The way we do our job is very risky because there is no way we can test our clients for coronavirus, or whether they were exposed to it,” Natukunda said.
She added, “We advise them to go home until the situation normalises. We will not force them, but all we can do is advise them to protect themselves from the pandemic.”
Although prostitution is not legally regarded as a business in Uganda, we have hundreds of them operating in different sections of the country.
