Volume : 3, Issue : 4, April - 2014

Forced Migration and Prostitution in Acholi–Land, Northern Uganda, 1986 To 2014

Dr. Charles Amone

Abstract :

Large-scale forced migration occurred in Acholiland, northern Uganda, when war oke out in 1986 between the Government of Uganda and various rebel groups, the largest being the Lord’s Resistance Army. The entire Acholi population migrated to Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps where they lived in squalid and inhuman conditions for over ten years. Women and girls suffered most in the changed lifestyle of the camps. In this paper, the author tackles prostitution from the perspective of the changed lifestyle caused by confinement within the camps. Through interviews with key informants including prostitutes and with observation during transect walks in the camps and towns of northern Uganda during day and at night, he concludes that prostitution among the Acholi people is a product of war and years of camp life.