Refugee parents and caregivers are trading young girls for sex in exchange for food, money and other life necessities as the Covid-19 lockdown bites harder, a new report by FAWE-Uganda has revealed.
The report also states that school-going refugee girls are being forced into odd jobs, further exposing them to sexual violence and abuse.
The survey titled; The Situation and Impact of Covid-19 on School-going Refugee Girls and Young Women in Uganda, was conducted between December 2020 to May this year.
“Increase of early marriage has been heightened by the increased poverty and vulnerability among refugee households attributed to the pandemic that has forced many families to marry off their daughters to help mitigate family financial burdens,” the report reads in part.
“Families marrying off their daughters receive money, food and other goods in return. School closures opened an opportunity for the caregivers and parents to pressure, lure and entice girls into marriage under the guise of “schools may never open again,” it added.
