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Isata, a single mother in her early twenties, embodies the tragic reality of many sex workers in Sierra Leone. Her life has been marked by violence, exploitation, and addiction. She has endured beatings, robbery, kidnapping, and trafficking across multiple countries, only to be rescued and trafficked again. Amid this chaos, she became addicted to kush, a cheap and dangerous street drug ravaging the nation.
For four years, the Media followed the lives of sex workers in Makeni, 200 km from the capital, Freetown. In the city’s swamplands, two women—Mabinty and another—described working in grim conditions, earning as little as one dollar per client, seeing up to 10 men a night. Mabinty, a mother of six, lost three of her children but continues to sell sex to support the remaining three in school. “I have no choice,” she said. “I sell sex to pay for my children’s education.”
Thousands of women in Sierra Leone have turned to sex work, many orphaned by the civil war that ended in 2002, displacing half the country’s population. Economic hardship from the Ebola outbreak and the COVID-19 pandemic has worsened their plight. Although prostitution is not illegal, sex workers face social stigma and receive minimal support from the government or society.
Isata’s journey reflects the dangers of this life. In 2020, she was trafficked to The Gambia, Senegal, and Mali, forced into sex slavery by a criminal gang. Speaking from captivity, she said, “They treat us like they want to kill us unless we accept.” With help from the UN’s International Organization for Migration (IOM), Isata was rescued and returned to Sierra Leone. She left sex work and tried to support herself by cooking, but by 2023, she had relapsed into prostitution and addiction. Hooked on kush, she left her four-month-old son in the care of her mother, Poseh, who blamed street life for Isata’s downward spiral.
Makeni, located in a diamond-rich region that fueled the civil war, is home to hundreds of sex workers like Isata. The constant risk of violence looms over them. Isata recounted a terrifying night when a man assaulted her, stole her money, and hit her with a gun, leaving her fearful for her life. Many women have contracted HIV, while others have been killed, yet they feel they have little choice but to continue.
Nata, another young sex worker and single mother of three daughters, shares a similar story. She prays her children will have better futures. Her eldest daughter dreams of becoming a lawyer to help her mother. But Nata, too, has fallen into kush addiction, which forced her to send her daughters to live with relatives. “I cry when I remember,” she said. “That’s why I smoke, to forget.”
Rugiatu, just 10 years old, lost her mother, Gina, a sex worker who was murdered at age 19. Now living with her grandmother, Rugiatu fears for her future: “If my gran dies, all I can do is beg in the streets.”
In early 2024, Isata faced another harrowing ordeal. Promised nanny work in Ghana, she was trafficked again to Mali, forced to sell sex in a gold-mining area. She called from captivity, pleading for help: “I regret everything. I want to be taken home.” Her traffickers demanded $1,700 for her freedom, forcing her into sexual slavery once again. Fortunately, Isata has since returned to Sierra Leone, living with her mother and two children, but her story highlights the pervasive problem of human trafficking.
The IOM estimates that thousands of Sierra Leoneans, including children, are trafficked each year, often tricked with promises of better jobs, only to be sold into forced labor or sexual exploitation. Many never return home.
Isata’s survival is a testament to her strength, but her story sheds light on the horrific conditions faced by countless others who remain trapped in a cycle of poverty, addiction, and exploitation.
