Prostitution in Rwanda

Although prostitution is illegal it is widespread, particularly in the capital, Kigali,{{cite web|last1=Mugarura|first1=Richard|title=Rwanda: Prostitution Still a Major Challenge in Kigali City|url=http://allafrica.com/stories/201507091358.html|website=Rwanda Focus (Kigali)|access-date=13 January 2018|date=9 July 2015}}{{cite web|last1=Kioko|first1=Dennis|title=Why Kenyans love Kigali (Part 2)|url=http://blog.denniskioko.com/2014/01/why-kenyans-love-kigali-part-2.html|website=Dennis Kioko COM|access-date=13 January 2018|date=6 January 2014}} and other urban centres.{{cite web|title=Prostitution growing with us|url=http://en.igihe.com/people/prostitution-growing-with-us|website=IGIHE|access-date=13 January 2018|language=en|date=20 July 2011}} Many prostitutes work from bars. Often men who are seeking prostitutes sit at the bar, and those who are not sit away from the bar counter. A significant number of university students use sex work to supplement their income.{{cite web|title=Prostitution in Universities is a Public Secret|url=http://www.en.igihe.com/lifestyle/prostitution-in-universities-is-a-public-secret|website=IGIHE|access-date=13 January 2018|language=en|date=22 July 2011}}

Sex workers report harassment from the police.

On 23 September 2006, the Minister of Gender and Family Promotion Valeria Nyirahabineza ordered prostitutes in Rwanda to stop selling sex otherwise they would face legal action.{{cite web|title=Minister warns on prostitution|url=http://www.rwanda.rw/article.php3?id_article=3041|archive-url=https://archive.today/20070730021926/http://www.rwanda.rw/article.php3?id_article=3041|archive-date=30 July 2007|date=26 September 2006|website=Rwanda Development Gateway}} She claimed that prostitution was a root cause of the HIV problem facing Rwanda. In March 2007 President Paul Kagame gave a speech stating that prostitution in Rwanda must be stopped. He stated: "It is not part of Rwanda’s path to development and, therefore, must stop".

The Rwanda Law Reform Commission started a review of the penal law in 2015 in an attempt to bring the country's laws up date.{{cite web|last1=Kwibuka|first1=Eugene|title=Rwanda: Heated Debate as MPs Start Scrutiny of Draft Penal Code |url=http://allafrica.com/stories/201711170124.html |website=The New Times (Kigali)|access-date=13 January 2018|date=17 November 2017}} The Draft Penal Code removes the prohibition of prostitution except for forced prostitution.{{cite web|last1=Mugisha|first1=Ivan R.|title=Rwandan civil society pushes for legalisation of prostitution|url=https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/rwanda/News/Rwandan-civil-society-pushes-for-legalisation-of-prostitution/1433218-4181402-u8gc2qz/index.html|website=The East African|access-date=13 January 2018|language=en-UK|date=12 November 2017}} Parliament started debating the Draft Penal Code in November 2017.

Section 4 of the Penal Code deals with prostitution:

Sub-section : Obligations and penalties for

failure to comply

• Article 204: Definition of prostitution
• Article 205: Obligations to be fulfilled by a prostitute

::Any person who engages in prostitution shall fulfill, for a period not exceeding one year, one or more of the following obligations:

::: 1° not to leave territorial limits determined by the Court;

::: 2° not to go to certain places determined by the court;

::: 3° to be subjected to surveillance measures;

::: 4° to seek medical treatment;

::: 5° to periodically report to administrative services or authorities determined by the court.

::A person who violates any of the obligations under items 1º to 5º of this Article, shall be liable to a term of imprisonment of at least three (3) months but less than six (6) months.

::If a person subsequently commits prostitution as provided under Paragraph 2 of this Article shall be liable to a term of imprisonment of six (6) months to two (2) years and a fine of fifty thousand (50,000) to five hundred thousand (500,000) Rwandan francs or one of these penalties.

::The penalties under paragraph 2 of this Article shall also apply to any person caught having sexual intercourse with a prostitute.

Sub-section 2: Incitement to prostitution

• Article 206: Encouraging, inciting or manipulating a person for the purpose of prostitution
• Article 207: Discouraging efforts to rehabilitate prostitutes
• Article 208: Advertisement for facilitation of prostitution

Sub-section 3: Exploitation of the prostitution

• Article 209: Running, managing or investing in a brothel
• Article 210: Sharing the proceeds of prostitution
• Article 211: Sharing the proceeds of prostitution by a child
• Article 212: Aiding, abetting and protecting prostitution
• Article 213: Providing a facility for prostitution

Sub-section 4: Aggravating circumstances

• Article 214: Aggravating circumstances for prostitution-related offence

A number of women, mostly prostitutes, were murdered in Kigali between July and August 2012. The total number of victims was variously reported as fifteen{{cite web|last1=Smith|first1=David|title=Rwandans fear serial killer is at large after murder of 15 women|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/sep/10/rwanda-fears-serial-killer-women-murdered|website=The Guardian|access-date=13 January 2018|date=10 September 2012}} and eighteen.{{cite web|title=Prostitution in Rwanda increasingly perilous|url=http://www.jambonews.net/en/news/20140414-prostitution-in-rwanda-increasingly-perilous/|website=Jambo News|access-date=13 January 2018|language=fr|date=14 April 2014}} The murders may have been the work of one person, with some people referring to the killer as the "African Jack the Ripper".{{cite web|last1=Mezzofiore|first1=Gianluca|title='African Jack the Ripper' Kills 15 Prostitutes in Rwanda|url=http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/rwanda-jack-ripper-africa-kigali-prostitute-381895|website=International Business Times UK|access-date=13 January 2018|language=en|date=7 September 2012}} One victim was described by neighbours as having had the words "I will stop once I have killed 400 prostitutes" carved into the flesh of her stomach, although this was dismissed as a rumour by the police.

It was reported in November 2012 that eight men had been arrested and that one of them had confessed to the murders.{{cite web|last1=Santi|first1=Ziyah|title=Sex workers speak out about Rwanda's silent tragedy|url=http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/360/sex-workers-speak-out-about-rwandas-silent-tragedy/5351866|website=Radio National|access-date=13 January 2018|language=en-AU|date=28 March 2014}}

{{see also|Human trafficking in Rwanda}}

Rwanda is a source, transit, and to a lesser extent, destination country for women, and children subjected to sex trafficking. Rwandan girls and some boys, some of whom are secondary school students between the ages of 13 and 18, are exploited in commercial sex in hotels, at times through the facilitation of hotel owners. Local human rights groups reported in 2016 that some Rwandan girls in domestic work, who become pregnant and thereby have their employment terminated by their employers and are unable to return to their home villages, are subsequently exploited in sex trafficking. Some Rwandan men, women, and children are subjected to sex trafficking to destinations around the world; the primary destinations for Rwandan victims are Uganda, the DRC, and other parts of East Africa. Rwandan victims are also reportedly exploited in sex trafficking to China. In previous years, Rwandan victims were exploited in South Africa, Malaysia, the United States, and Europe. In 2016, some Rwandan girls were forced into marriages with men in Tanzania and may have experienced commercial sexual exploitation through these marriages. Reporting in 2013 indicated that Kampala- and Nairobi-based labour recruiters and brokers recruited Rwandan workers through fraudulent offers of employment abroad and subjected them to sex trafficking.{{cite web|title=Rwanda 2017 Trafficking in Persons Report|url=https://www.state.gov/j/tip/rls/tiprpt/countries/2017/271270.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170703181450/https://www.state.gov/j/tip/rls/tiprpt/countries/2017/271270.htm|url-status=dead |archive-date=3 July 2017|website=U.S. Department of State|access-date=13 January 2018}}{{PD-notice}}

Refugees fleeing conflict and political violence in Burundi and the DRC remain highly vulnerable to trafficking in Rwanda or are subjected to exploitation in third countries after transiting Rwanda. According to an international organisation, there has been an increase in sex trafficking of Burundian male and female teenagers through Rwanda to third countries since 2015. Burundian refugee girls transited through Rwanda were exploited in sex trafficking in Uganda. Separately, female child refugees in a Congolese refugee camp were reportedly subjected to sex trafficking in nearby towns in 2015, allegedly facilitated by one civilian and three RDF soldiers assigned to the camp.

The United States Department of State Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons ranks Rwanda as a 'Tier 2' country.{{cite web |title=Rwanda 2018 Trafficking in Persons Report |url=https://www.state.gov/j/tip/rls/tiprpt/countries/2018/282737.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180730234936/https://www.state.gov/j/tip/rls/tiprpt/countries/2018/282737.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=30 July 2018 |website=U.S. Department of State |access-date=30 July 2018}}

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