The woman promised me that I would work and use my salary for my school fees. She brought me to Uganda and got me a job as a bar maid. That’s where it all started, because being a bar maid meant sleeping with customers.
I was 13 years old. They threatened me that if I didn’t do sex work, satisfy and entice customers, they wouldn’t pay me or feed me. So that’s how I survived.
My first time was hard. It was a bad experience. I bled the whole of the first night. I couldn’t sit properly, only with my thighs apart. I was in so much pain. Once I healed I continued. They used to pay my boss and then he bought me food. I didn’t get a salary.
I fell pregnant at 13. I’d been working for less than a year. Some days I would have 5 clients but others I wouldn’t have any. I used to send the money I earned from sex work back to the village, to my mother who is looking after my kids. Sometimes I would starve to ensure that my children have something to eat.
Once I graduate and am empowered with skills, I’ll have an income, a job and a house. I’ll live with my kids and take them to school.
Now that I’m studying here, people respect me. And even if they still try and bring me down, I stand my ground and tell them. “I have a future. I’m getting skills training, and I’ll soon have a better job than you”.
Narrative courtesy of Plan International’s film series highlighting their programme in Kampala, Uganda, to train young women aged 13-24 who are sexually exploited or engaged in sex work.
