2.1.2. Prevalence Estimates for Trafficking in Persons in Uganda

Evidence on the full scale of trafficking in Uganda, including ‘unknown’ cases, is scarce. There are no official government estimates of the total number of victims in the country. The Global Slavery Index (GSI) estimated that 190,000 people were living in modern slavery in Uganda in 2021—4.2 people in every 1,000 in the country.[1] This includes people in forced labour and forced marriages. This made Uganda the country with the 29^th highest estimated prevalence of modern slavery in Africa.

Other recent research in Uganda has found that:

• 35.3% of girls and 16.5% of boys in Uganda experienced sexual violence in childhood.
• 11.9% of children in Karamoja experienced commercial sexual exploitation, and 20.9% were at high risk.[2]
• 26.3-29.3% of individuals engaged in the sex industry in Kampala were under the age of 18—22.5% of whom were male.[3]

[1] Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development, ‘Uganda Violence against Children Survey: Findings from a National Survey 2015’ (November 2017), pp 13-14.

[2] ICF, ‘Household Study of Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children in Napak District of Karamoja, Uganda’ (Global Fund to End Modern Slavery 2021), pp 33 and 37

[3] ICF, ‘Respondent-Driven Sampling Study of Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC) in Kampala, Uganda’ (Global Fund to End Modern Slavery 2021), pp 18-19.

[1] Walk Free, ‘Country Data: Uganda’ (Global Slavery Index, 2023).