Family Medical Point’s moonlight outreach to Kasenyi fishing landing site supported this need! “In this overly populated commercial sex work setting, family planning will help me take care of my own health and safety and better care for daughters,” says Kiele, a 19 year mother of two.
She was trafficked from Kinshasa, DRC, to Kasenyi fishing landing site by her paternal aunt who wanted Kiele to work in her bar business. She worked in her auntie’s bar for only two months and resorted to sex work for survival.
As we mark the World Contraception Day on 26 September aimed at improving awareness of all contraceptive methods available and to enable young people to make informed choices on their sexual and reproductive health, the Keiles in the numerous fishing communities across lake Victoria are always forgotten.
In fact, stories like Kiele’s are all too common for many girls who are coerced to fishing landing sites to work in bars and restaurants, yet survival becomes more difficult and these young women resort to commercial sex work or carrying unintended pregnancies since they can not bargain for safer sex.

Across the world, millions of women and girls live in the long shadows of human trafficking whether ensnared by force, coercion, or deception, they live in limbo, in fear and in pain. The vast majority of detected trafficking victims are women and girls, and three out of four are trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation, which end up in unintended pregnancies. The lack of economic opportunities for women at fish-landing sites in Africa has been described as a key contributing factor in the vulnerability of women in fisheries.
The burden of unplanned pregnancies weighs heavily on young girls whose lives have already been robbed by the unforgiving human traffickers in the lake Victoria region. Modern family planning, despite the higher unmet need among women living in the fishing landing sites, is a lifeline to prevent unintended pregnancies, facilitate proper birth spacing, and reduce the burden of maternal mortality among trafficked girls. Restricts around accessing safe abortion means many of these girls lose their lives due to unsafe abortion. National statistics show that over 60 per cent of unintended pregnancies end in abortion and an estimated 45 per cent of all abortions are unsafe, causing 5 – 13 per cent of all maternal deaths.
Improving family planning service delivery for young girls trapped in landing sites
Family Medical Point has collaborated with service providers from four landing sites; Kasenyi, Guuda, Nakiwoogo and Kigungu composed of midwives, clinical nurses and psychosocial counselors – to ensure the provision of critical maternal and reproductive health services during day and night time. The Organization’s community based mobilisers are raising awareness on services availability as well as referring women to the different service points for family planning services within the landing sites.
Kiele is grateful to make a choice based on her own needs, priorities and reproductive life as she continues to struggle in the landing site.
Greetings! Very helpful advice in this particular post! It is the little changes which will make the largest changes. Thanks a lot for sharing!