Commercial
sex workers must be protected from assault and any other kind of
mistreatment, Rwandan lawmakers said after release of a parliamentary
report about the living conditions of the ladies of the night.
Recalling
that the Penal Code criminalizes prostitution, MPs also recommended
that before punishing sex workers, the government must closely examine
and tackle issues that force people into prostitution.
This is
one of a dozen of recommendations that were adopted at the end of a
one-day meeting which discussed issues affecting sex workers.
The
meeting was called to assess prostitutes’ needs so as to inform
parliamentary advocacy and action, and to discuss strategies that would
help accelerate response to the HIV/Aids pandemic.
The
report is a result of a qualitative research by members of the Rwandan
Parliamentarians’ Network on Population and Development (RPRPD), a group
of MPs dedicated to raise public awareness on issues related to
population growth.
Last
year, RPRPD organised field visits in the districts of Kicukiro, Rubavu
and Rusizi to discuss with sex workers about the challenges they faced.
Findings
from these consultative meetings with sex workers, local government
authorities and others actors in the districts showed that
criminalisation of prostitution denies sex workers easy access to
crucial services, with devastating consequences on their health, their
clients and partners of their clients.- New Times.
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