The Project
Description
During the six week Independent Study Project, I studied the interplay between religious and political institutions and sex workers in Kampala, and the effectiveness of methods used to rehabilitate members of this population. Rehabilitation refers to methods used to extract women from the sex trade and offer them alternative means of making a living. For example, nongovernmental and faith based organizations often try to train women in jewelry making, tailoring, hairdressing, or provide them with other vocational skills so they can leave sex work and support themselves in less risky industries. During this project, I attempted to ascertain what religious and political leaders view as their responsibilities toward this population and learn about the ways in which their institutions currently assist sex workers. I also tried to measure the importance of religion in the lives of sex workers and identify the extent to which these women participate in politics. Additionally, I wanted to learn whether a forum for dialogue exists between sex worker and religious and political leaders. Lastly, I attempted to evaluate the effectiveness of rehabilitative methods and identify ways in which they can be improved.
Throughout the ISP period, I used qualitative methods of data collection to build my report. I used semi structured interviews to gather information from six sex workers working in a brothel and also had formal interviews with two Local Council 1s (LC 1s). LC 1s are leaders at very local levels; in rural areas, each LC 1 is responsible for a village and in urban areas each LC 1 is responsible for a neighborhood. I also held two focus group discussions with seven and nine sex workers respectively, who all came from several different areas within Kampala. Lastly, I conducted formal interviews with a representative from the Ministry of Ethics and Integrity, and religious leaders representing Islam and Christianity, including the Catholic and Born Again denominations.
Justification
Religious leaders and institutions often play a pivotal role in reaching out to and aiding vulnerable communities. In fact, some may even argue that those with religious authority have an obligation to assist people who many times cannot meet their basic needs and have to continually struggle to provide for themselves and their families. In undertaking this project, I wanted to learn whether religious leaders and institutions have taken an active role in reaching out to sex workers within Kampala.
Due to the fact that sex work is illegal in Uganda, law makers completely leave sex workers out of HIV prevention policies, though this population has one of the highest rates of infection in the world. Additionally, this population faces legal marginalization when clients or police rob, rape or otherwise abuse them. The fact that many sex workers are undereducated and lack the skills necessary to obtain other forms of employment points to larger structural problems which must also be addressed.
Through my literature review, I learned that the majority of the sex workers who attempt rehabilitation return to the sex trade. I wanted to explore the reasons for the lack of success in rehabilitation and identify ways in which rehabilitative methods can be improved.
Organizations
In order to reach the sex worker population, I contacted two organizations which worked directly with the women. First, I worked with an organization founded in 1991 by four female students at Makerere University who wished to address problems faced by women and children in slums. Though in the past this organization worked very closely with sex workers, currently, due to lack of donor funding, its only service to these women is the provision of condoms. Still, because of the relationship this organization has with sex workers in the area, I was able to conduct individual interviews with women working in a brothel nearby. I also worked with a human rights organization founded in 2008 by three sex workers who faced harassment, stigma, insults, discrimination and arrest without trial throughout their careers, and as a result aspired to draw attention to the plight of other sex workers in the same working environment. This organization aims to improve the health and social and economic well-being of adult sex workers in Uganda and offers services such as psycho-social support and counseling, documentation of human rights violence, functional adult literacy classes, reproductive health services and legal and social protection services. Through my association with this organization, I was able to have two focus group discussions with seven and nine women respectively.
During the six week Independent Study Project, I studied the interplay between religious and political institutions and sex workers in Kampala, and the effectiveness of methods used to rehabilitate members of this population. Rehabilitation refers to methods used to extract women from the sex trade and offer them alternative means of making a living. For example, nongovernmental and faith based organizations often try to train women in jewelry making, tailoring, hairdressing, or provide them with other vocational skills so they can leave sex work and support themselves in less risky industries. During this project, I attempted to ascertain what religious and political leaders view as their responsibilities toward this population and learn about the ways in which their institutions currently assist sex workers. I also tried to measure the importance of religion in the lives of sex workers and identify the extent to which these women participate in politics. Additionally, I wanted to learn whether a forum for dialogue exists between sex worker and religious and political leaders. Lastly, I attempted to evaluate the effectiveness of rehabilitative methods and identify ways in which they can be improved.
Throughout the ISP period, I used qualitative methods of data collection to build my report. I used semi structured interviews to gather information from six sex workers working in a brothel and also had formal interviews with two Local Council 1s (LC 1s). LC 1s are leaders at very local levels; in rural areas, each LC 1 is responsible for a village and in urban areas each LC 1 is responsible for a neighborhood. I also held two focus group discussions with seven and nine sex workers respectively, who all came from several different areas within Kampala. Lastly, I conducted formal interviews with a representative from the Ministry of Ethics and Integrity, and religious leaders representing Islam and Christianity, including the Catholic and Born Again denominations.
Justification
Religious leaders and institutions often play a pivotal role in reaching out to and aiding vulnerable communities. In fact, some may even argue that those with religious authority have an obligation to assist people who many times cannot meet their basic needs and have to continually struggle to provide for themselves and their families. In undertaking this project, I wanted to learn whether religious leaders and institutions have taken an active role in reaching out to sex workers within Kampala.
Due to the fact that sex work is illegal in Uganda, law makers completely leave sex workers out of HIV prevention policies, though this population has one of the highest rates of infection in the world. Additionally, this population faces legal marginalization when clients or police rob, rape or otherwise abuse them. The fact that many sex workers are undereducated and lack the skills necessary to obtain other forms of employment points to larger structural problems which must also be addressed.
Through my literature review, I learned that the majority of the sex workers who attempt rehabilitation return to the sex trade. I wanted to explore the reasons for the lack of success in rehabilitation and identify ways in which rehabilitative methods can be improved.
Organizations
In order to reach the sex worker population, I contacted two organizations which worked directly with the women. First, I worked with an organization founded in 1991 by four female students at Makerere University who wished to address problems faced by women and children in slums. Though in the past this organization worked very closely with sex workers, currently, due to lack of donor funding, its only service to these women is the provision of condoms. Still, because of the relationship this organization has with sex workers in the area, I was able to conduct individual interviews with women working in a brothel nearby. I also worked with a human rights organization founded in 2008 by three sex workers who faced harassment, stigma, insults, discrimination and arrest without trial throughout their careers, and as a result aspired to draw attention to the plight of other sex workers in the same working environment. This organization aims to improve the health and social and economic well-being of adult sex workers in Uganda and offers services such as psycho-social support and counseling, documentation of human rights violence, functional adult literacy classes, reproductive health services and legal and social protection services. Through my association with this organization, I was able to have two focus group discussions with seven and nine women respectively.