Gen. Museveni thinks he can “command” sex workers away. Photo: Facebook.
[My Free Thoughts]
Kakwenza Rukirabashaija
General Yoweri Museveni’s regime should decriminalize sex work and tax it instead since the country is desperate for revenue.
With all honesty, no war against sex workers shall ever be won. The attempt has failed throughout history including under Constantine and his repressive Canon laws in the 320’s AD.
Canon law defined a sex worker as a “promiscuous woman” or a “whore” who was available for the lust of many men. But lately, even men are available to be bought by rich women for sexual pleasure.
In Uganda, most women and men who engage in the sex work do so because they are looking for survival. The living condition is dire and to survive, they have to offer their “private” parts to market forces. They do so in order to afford to live.
It is mistakenly thought that only those nubile species who stand under lampposts in Kabalagala and on Speke Road with glistening sparkling thighs and almost dropping succulent breasts and thongs, do sex work. There are also many married working class people among others who sell their “private” parts to augment their meager incomes. Even in Parliament, there are many, especially during campaigns who solicit cash to facilitate patronage.
In ancient Rome—where the colonial religion of commercial Christianity emanated from—sex work was not criminalized and it was public and widespread. Roman men of the highest social status were free to engage sex workers without incurring moral disapproval as long as they demonstrated self-control and moderation in the frequency and enjoyment of sex. The occupation was highly tolerated because it helped prevent the greater evils of rape, defilement, and sodomy. Masturbation was also disapproved of.
Sex work has existed as an occupation since time immemorial and has roots in the ancient East where it was practiced in the shrines, temples and houses of heaven dedicated to different deities. It was referred to as sacred sex which would be performed in the context of religious worship, possibly as a form of fertility rite or divine marriage; until emperor Constantine destroyed it and replaced such practices with Christianity and introduced Canon law to criminalize such practices on a moral ground. But did the industry cease to exist?
Even an outbreak of syphilis in Naples in the year 1494 which later swept across Europe didn’t stop sex work. The outbreak of Gonorrhea, AIDS and other terrible or threatening sexually transmitted diseases hasn’t scared sex workers from offering their pum-pum and phalluses for cash. Their numbers have increased and this government of dictator Gen. Museveni believes imposing legislation on private matters of consenting adults can make sex work disappear.
Websites like exotic escorts Kampala exist and unemployed youths are busy earning untaxed income. Government should decriminalize sex work. After all, Uganda Revenue Authority is hungry for tax revenue and this could be a great opportunity to collect from brothels and Johns.
The government is losing potential revenue. On the other hand the regime tolerates colonial shrines such as pastors who collect huge offertory every week. Yet the same regime is over taxing internet which is key in this digital era.
Just like Human Rights Watch recently pronounced, criminalizing adult, voluntary and consensual sex- including the commercial exchange of sexual services – is incompatible with the human right to personal autonomy and privacy.
The dictatorship should not be telling consenting adults who they can have sexual relations with and on what terms. Columnist Kakwenza a survivor of Gen. Museveni’s torture chambers can be contacted via [email protected]
