25/06/2023
Daughters of Hope Creations takes on the empowerment of the third intake of another 46 less privileged girls and women in Kijungu-Mbarara city in a six months skills training course (June-December 2023) aiming at changing and transforming their lives. Since February 2022 Daughters of Hope Creations has taken on the role to train vulnerable girls and women who are victims of school dropout, GBV, poverty, human trafficking and many others that has made them to indulge in insecure and un health habit of prostitution in Mbarara to earn a living. This results them into many un reversible life challenges like un wanted and early pregnancies, HIV/AIDS, STDs, drug abuse and alcoholism. Reports rank Mbarara among top destinations for s*x workers in the country with a prevalence rate of 9.6% (male 7.5% and Female 11.6%). They continue to say the city has 6.3% of the population living with HIV compared to the national average of 5.5%. however, the city has become a hub of s*x workers who station on streets and bars dressed in skimpy clothes to attract clients with major hotspots being Kijungu, Kisenyi, Biafra, Rwebikoona, and Ruti with the most underage female s*x workers. This has stagnated the government’s efforts of fighting and ending HIV/AIDS by 2030. However, Daughters of Hope Creations intends to mentor and equip them with skills in tailoring and hair dressing for their social and economic development. In our first and second intakes, over 120 beneficiaries have been economically empowered and transformed by giving sewing machines and hair dryers to those who successfully completed their six months training. Our target is to reach out to one million beneficiaries in the next eight years through our different life changing, saving and transformative programs like soap making, knitting and embroidery etc. This course not only trains them in skills but also helps them to relearn the normal and rehabilitate them to regain self-love.
Our research reveals that a big percentage of these girls resort to street s*x because;
1) it was their last resort.
2) More so, many of them are looking to survive and thrive in this corporate world which pushes them to look for quick money in all ways possible.
3) Many leave their parents and relatives to join the street due to ignorance of how risky and dangerous the venture is.
4) Some are driven by influence from peers and other online misleading information.
That’s why Daughters of Hope creations calls for greater support to these victims and great sensitization to the communities that lose them. Throughout the years many Gospel Outreaches, fellowships, security warnings and alerts have been staged to these hotspots and have been interested in the diverse transformation of prostitutes, but they have been lacking a coordinated, accountable and sustainable rescue response for the social economic transformation of these s*x workers. The activities of Daughters of Hope Creations have provided impetus for a whole change role. It has continued to prove a key player through its active engagement on the beneficiaries’ follow-ups through a multi-stakeholder and community approach to protect and promote the rights of women as enshrined in our vision: “Collective action to rebuild economic resilience for inclusive growth, reclaiming gender justice and independence towards realization of health opportunities for social economic transformation and sustainable development for a girl child.’’
Reflecting on rising challenges and increasing number of s*x workers in Kijungu and other areas of Mbarara City much emphasis must be put on creating job opportunities, reducing peer pressure, mitigation of GBV, information dissemination in schools and communities, gender justice and effective strategies for countering them. Livelihood activities like these makes one busy and occupied which limits redundancy to indulge in un productive acts that result into miscalculations and the consequences. Currently we are discussing on how digitalization and technology can also be used to impact on their social economic and gender norms especially the urban girls and women because most of them are elites and engagement is an effective tool in transformation. However, many of them are avoiding online platforms for fear of abuse. The power of influence is real! But the big question is, who is influencing you and who are you influencing and how? The primary focus revolves around women’s health and livelihood and through our collaboration with the church we have been able to actively engage with these s*x workers who faces vulnerabilities related to s*xual and gender-based violence.
