Commercial Sex Lodgings Closed Down In EES In a bid to fight the spread of HIV/AIDS and to maintain societal moral standards in Eastern Equatoria State, the Government has finally shut down all prostitution lodgings in Torit town until further notice and announced to extend to all the Counties. 08 June 2011 Commercial Sex Lodgings Closed Down In EES Door keys (on table) collected for confiscation by Government officials in the ongoing operation [©G By Peter Lokale Nakimangole TORIT, 8th June, 2011 [Gurtong] – In a bid to fight the spread of HIV/AIDS and to maintain societal moral standards in Eastern Equatoria State, the Government has finally shut down all prostitution lodgings in Torit town until further notice and announced to extend to all the Counties.
The operation, carried out on Monday, was headed by Deputy Governor Loluke with the host Torit Commissioner, Felix Otuduha Siro, Deputy Police commissioner, Ben Bilal Mamur and security personnel accompanied by different media houses that were invited by the Deputy Governor. Loluke said that the operation followed a joint meeting held last Friday which comprised of chairpersons of all foreign communities such as Kenya, Uganda and the Chairperson of Commerce in Torit who advised the government to curb the menace. He attributed the problem to the many people coming from the neighbouring nations who allegedly play a role in the trade. “The efforts made today are part of transitional reforms being carried out in public interest. In the joint meeting, we collectively agreed to close down all prostitution shops existing in almost all lodges in Torit town,” the Deputy Governor said. “We don’t want young people to continue dying even after we fought for years and lost millions of human lives in the civil war. We should be free from HIV/AIDs,” he continued. The Eastern Equatoria State Governor, Loius Lobong Lojore and Torit Commissioner, Felix Otuduha Siro and the State Deputy Governor, have in most of occasions held in Torit pronounced and made several threats to close down prostitution shops and sex trade in the State. Recently during SPLA celebration Day, held on the 18th of May, the Governor ordered for a closure of the sex lodgings in his long speech but he dint specify date of action. He expressed disappointment over sex workers’ manoeuvre in Torit without his knowledge and directed Torit County Commissioner to quickly in collaboration with State Ministry of Local Government and the police to close down sex lodgings and cease commercial sex activities. Governor Lobong then cautioned the State citizens to be vigilant about the widespread of the disease saying that South Sudan is without doubt at high risk of the disease owing to its position and nature as Ugandans, Kenyans, Burundis, Rwandans, Congolese, Ethiopians entre into the region. A few months ago in one of workshops held at Catholic Diocese of Torit, youths threatened to stage a protest over the increasing existence of sex workers in Torit lodges because they are the leading victims of HIV/AIDs. EES’ spokesperson, Mr. Okello Odongtoo Lawiri told Gurtong that among all the Lodges, Victoria Lodge led with the highest number of commercial sex workers. Previously, sources who preferred anonymity told Gurtong most clients offered the sex workers an amount -of street value ranging between 10 and 40 SDG based on their agreements. Most women protested against the vice as their husbands spent all the family monthly income on commercial sex and related activities. Posted in: Home, Governance, S. Sudan Independence -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "JFD info" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/jfdinfo?hl=en.
