By. Our Reporter.
A report released by Uganda youth development link attributes the increase in underage sexual exploitation to the increasing number of tourists in the country coupled with increased internet access that is not controlled.
Reading the
findings of the report dubbed, The scale, scope and context of the sexual
exploitation of children, the head of programme Rogers Mutawe and the executive director UYDEL Rogers Kasirye
reveal that, the number of sexual exploitation of underage girl in the country
has grown to over 30,000 in the year
2019 as compared to 18000 in the year 2014.
The report
further confirms that the swelling number of tourists entering the country, child
sex offenders may be accessing the victims through orphanage volunteerism
programme. Being that Uganda’s orphanage industry is booming, there is concern
that a number of these orphanage homes are centers of income generating institutions.
The finding
further reveals that tourists pay dollars to volunteer with orphaned children.
In the past years, the number of orphaned children in orphanage homes has
increased from approximately 1000 in
1990s to more than 50,000 todate.
Existing
poverty is another factor, as refugee children in common with resident Ugandans
are among many groups of children that struggle to support themselves. This
leaves them vulnerable to trafficking and sexual exploitation through
prostitution.
However, the
deputy executive director UYDEL, Annie
Nabulya, the report recommends that local bodies are responsible for
implementing of legislations, criminalize the act of obtaining a child for
exploitation in prostitution, consolidate provisions on online child sexual
exploitation, criminalize child sexual exploitation in the tourism and travel
sector among others.
The desk
research was carried out in April 2019 around the country.
END