Over 50 former sex workers who used to operate in in Kanombe Sector, Kicukiro District, have formed an anti-prostitution club to help them lure former colleagues out of the profession. According to Athanase Iyamuremye, the Legal Representative of Hope for Living, a faith-based NGO, the club will mainly focus on de-campaigning prostitution in public places and schools through music and drama. “We realised that when students come home for holidays, some of them usually participate in selling their bodies, something we need to fight in our country,” Iyamuremye said. “The campaign will mainly be carried out in schools and places known to harbour sex workers, carrying messages that calling upon those involved in the trade to change their ways through songs, poems and drama.” He added that the club has already secured funding from UNIFEM to facilitate this campaign and other projects that will assist the former sex workers generate some income. “We have tried to help them come up with some income generating projects and have provided them with training on how to start up these activities,” he said. Speaking to The New Times, one of the members of the club, 22-year old Charlotte Nyirabizimana, said that her colleagues had benefited a lot after they abandoned the profession. “The community we live in has now changed their attitude towards us ever since we abandoned our former work and we have started benefiting both materially and socially,” she said. Ends
