00:00A busy night in Kampala's red district of Waise.
00:07Young men and women trade in the shadows of the city.
00:10For some, it's a source of pleasure.
00:13For Jennifer, whose real name is withheld, it is a means of survival.
00:19From this income, we pay school fees for our children, we pay rent, support our livelihood and other people.
00:26Our job should be decriminalised and respected like any other job.
00:31But sex work is no ordinary job in Uganda.
00:35It has been punishable by law since colonial times.
00:40Other than being illegal, it is immoral. It is completely unacceptable to Ugandan societies.
00:48But a Ugandan lawmaker is challenging this tense.
00:52Foxodo is advocating for protection, not persecution, of sex workers like Jennifer.
00:59If you criminalise sex work, you will only drive sex workers underground.
01:06You will drive them to very unsafe spaces where they are molested, where they are exploited, where they are not paid, where they are tortured.
01:17And that's precisely where we are now.
01:20Jennifer says she was raped by a man posing as a client at night.
01:25She reported the case to the police.
01:28But fearing that pursuing justice could expose her identity as a sex worker to her family and the public,
01:36she took a tough decision to withdraw the case.
01:40I was in a very bad state, empty and sick.
01:44I wasn't ready to pursue the case to conclusion,
01:47especially with a little child to take care of as a single parent.
01:51Activists say that cases like Jennifer's are all too common.
01:56They hope that decriminalising sex work will help victims seek justice and support.
02:02Because when we decriminalise, then it creates an enabling environment for us to protect the minors or the young girls who are engaging in transactional sex.
02:13Two, it also creates an environment where sex workers are empowered enough to access health services without fear, without feeling stigma, without feeling discriminated.
02:23But actually they are willing to even report cases of violence where they have been violated.
02:29We cannot legalise prostitution. That is out of the question.
02:33So those who are trying to say we should, should actually forget about it.
02:38Because in Uganda, that cannot happen.
02:41We cannot accept legalisation of prostitution as a form of employment. It's unacceptable.
02:48Despite being a crime, sex work continues in the shadows.
02:53With the laws rarely enforced, Jennifer says that she has no choice but to risk venturing in what society has already judged as immoral.
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