19-year-old rescued from sex slavery in Uganda

A teenage girl has been rescued from forced sex slavery in Uganda. The rescue was coordinated by Rwanda National Police and the Rwandan embassy in Kampala in collaboration with their Ugandan counterparts last week, officials said. The rescue comes as the country is working to toughen measures against human trafficking. Last year, 19 cases of human trafficking involving 25 victims, including foreigners, were intercepted in Rwanda en route to either Europe or Asia. In the latest case, a man called Police and the Rwandan embassy in Uganda to report that a 19-year-old girl from Ndego Sector in Kayonza District was being held as a sex slave. The identity of the victim cannot be revealed, but Police said she was sneaked out of the country through Kagitumba border post on January 12 by a suspected Rwandan woman still at large. The victim, who is being treated at Isange One Stop Centre at Kacyiru Police Hospital, is pregnant. She testified before journalists in Kigali yesterday. “A woman came to my home and promised to find me a job in Uganda. I was a farmer in a poor family. She promised to pay me Rwf5,000 per month,” she narrated. The victim said she has no family relationship with the woman. She met the trafficker through a man who told her that he knew of a woman who needed a worker to take to Uganda. “I only recall crossing Kagitumba border and I do not know where we were in Uganda. But when I reached there, I was surprised being forced into prostitution. Men would rape me and after give her money. I could not gain anything,” she added. She said the first man to sleep with her paid the woman Ush25,000 (about Rwf6,000) and two others paid Ush15,000 (about Rwf3,500) each. “The woman told me not to tell anyone from my family if she was to guarantee me a good life. I believed her since she was known to us and then she arranged and took me to Uganda,” the victim narrated. “Luckily, I happened to meet a Rwandan man whom she had brought to employ. I recounted my ordeal to him. On learning that I was Rwandan, he called the Police and embassy to rescue me but the woman was not there,” the victim told journalists. “They had kept all my identifications and mobile handset. I had no more communication means for help,” she lamented. Celestin Twahirwa, the Police spokesperson, said investigations into the case are ongoing. “The suspect is still at large but we hope investigations will lead to her arrest and prosecution in collaboration with Ugandan police,” he said. editorial@newtimes.co.rw

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19-year-old rescued from sex slavery in Uganda