A Trade Woven Into Urban and Border Life Walk past certain bars in Douala’s Akwa district after 9pm, or along the streets of Yaoundé’s Bastos and Mvog-Mbi in the early hours, and you will see young women in tight dresses waiting by car parks. In border towns, the pattern repeats. Truck drivers, traders, students, and migrant workers form the clientele. Sex work in Cameroon operates on a spectrum. There are street-based workers, bar and nightclub-based workers, “call girls” who operate via phone and social media, and transactional relationships that blur into “sugar” arrangements with older men, students, and civil servants. Brothels as formal establishments are rare because they are explicitly illegal, but informal “hotels de passe” function as short-stay venues. The trade is visible, but rarely discussed openly in families or in parliament. That silence itself shapes how the problem is understood and addressed. The Root Causes: Why People Enter Sex Work There is no single reason. Interviews with NGO workers, pastors, and the women themselves point to overlapping factors: Poverty and Unemployment Cameroon’s youth unemployment rate remains high. With a university degree not guaranteeing a job, many young women and some men turn to sex work as a survival strategy. A 60-page magazine may cost $1200 to produce, but a night’s earnings of 10,000 to 50,000 CFA can pay rent, school fees, or support siblings in the village. For many, it is “temporary” work that becomes long-term. Rural-Urban Migration Women migrating from the Northwest, Southwest, Far North and rural areas to Douala and Yaoundé often arrive with little capital and no social network. Landlords, transport costs, and the pressure to send money home create immediate financial stress. Bars and hotels become the first point of contact. Education Drop-out and Early Pregnancy Girls who drop out of school due to pregnancy or lack of fees find formal employment difficult. Stigma makes returning to school harder. Sex work becomes one of the few cash-earning options. Conflict and Displacement The Anglophone crisis since 2016 displaced hundreds of thousands from NW and SW regions. Humanitarian agencies reported increased vulnerability to exploitation in IDP camps and host communities. Some displaced women entered sex work to feed families. Social Media and Changing Norms Instagram, TikTok and WhatsApp have created a new economy of “DM hookups.” The visibility of luxury lifestyles online fuels transactional relationships. What older generations called “concubinage” is now monetized and branded. Demand Side Clients include local businessmen, expatriates, truck drivers along the CEMAC corridor, military personnel, and students. The demand is fueled by disposable income, mobility, and a culture where male infidelity is often normalized in private, even while condemned in public. What the Law Says: Legality and Criminalization Cameroon’s Penal Code does not use the word “prostitution” in one single article, but several provisions criminalize activities around it. Article 343: Outrage to Public Decency Public solicitation can lead to arrest and fines. Police routinely round up women in “known areas” and take them to stations. Article 294 and 295: Procuring and Brothel Keeping It is illegal to run a brothel, to live off the earnings of prostitution, or to procure another person for prostitution. Punishments include imprisonment of 6 months to 5 years and fines. Article 346: Sexual Exploitation of Minors Sex with a person under 18 is statutory rape, punishable by 10 to 20 years. This is the clearest legal line. NGOs stress that many underage girls are presented as 18+ in bars. Trafficking Law No. 2011/024 This law addresses trafficking in persons for sexual exploitation. It carries 10-20 years. Cameroon is a source, transit and destination country according to US State Department reports. Girls are trafficked from rural areas to cities, and from neighboring countries into Cameroon. What is NOT explicitly criminalized: The act of an adult selling sex to another consenting adult in private is in a legal grey area. The law targets public order, procurement, and minors. This creates confusion for police, courts, and health workers. In practice, enforcement is selective. Periodic “clean-up” operations happen before major events. Otherwise, bribery and negotiation often replace prosecution. Human rights lawyers argue this exposes workers to abuse without giving them legal protection. The Consequences: Health, Social and Economic The impact cuts across individuals and communities. Public Health Sex workers are a key population for HIV. UNAIDS and the National AIDS Control Committee list female sex workers as having HIV prevalence several times higher than the general adult population. Condom use is inconsistent, especially with regular clients or when clients pay more for unprotected sex. STIs, unwanted pregnancies, and unsafe abortions are common. Access to health services is limited by stigma. Many avoid public hospitals for fear of judgment or police reports. Violence and Exploitation Because the work is stigmatized and partly criminalized, workers have little recourse when assaulted or robbed. Reports from human rights groups document rape by clients, extortion by security forces, and abuse by pimps. Migrant and underage girls are most at risk. Social Stigma Families often disown daughters who are discovered. Churches preach against it. Yet the same communities may accept money sent home without asking the source. This double standard deepens isolation. Impact on Education Teenage girls who enter sex work rarely return to school. The cycle repeats: low education leads to low-wage options, which pushes more into the trade. Image and Tourism Cameroon markets itself for ecotourism and business. Reports of sex tourism in coastal towns like Kribi and Limbe damage that image. The government is sensitive to how Cameroon is portrayed internationally. What Government Is Doing The state response is fragmented across ministries: Health, Women’s Empowerment and the Family, Justice, and Security. Law Enforcement Police and gendarmerie conduct periodic raids, especially in Yaoundé and Douala. The goal is often “public order” rather than prosecution. Arrested women are sometimes sent to social centers for “re-education.” Human rights groups criticize these sweeps for violating due process. Health Interventions The Ministry of Public Health, with support from Global Fund and PEPFAR, runs targeted HIV programs. NGOs like CAMNAFAW and SWAA distribute condoms, do HIV testing, and provide ART. Peer educators are used to reach bars and streets. The message is harm reduction, not moral judgment. Women’s Empowerment Programs The Ministry of Women’s Empowerment runs vocational training: hairdressing, tailoring, agriculture. The idea is to provide alternatives. Funding is limited and reach is small compared to the need. In some regions, women’s cooperatives receive microcredit. Anti-Trafficking Efforts The National Agency for the Fight Against Human Trafficking coordinates with police and NGOs. Border posts have sensitization campaigns. Cases are prosecuted under the 2011 law, though convictions remain few. Education and Awareness School programs on reproductive health and life skills exist, but implementation varies. In crisis regions, UNICEF and partners run programs for vulnerable girls. Government officials publicly state that prostitution “undermines Cameroonian values.” Privately, many acknowledge it will not disappear without jobs. The website and visibility projects like CAJ’s magazine are part of a broader push to shape national narrative and attract legitimate investment instead. Reactions From Various Sectors Religious Leaders Pastors and imams are uniformly opposed. Catholic, Protestant and Muslim leaders preach against “immorality” in Sunday sermons and Friday prayers. Some churches run rehabilitation programs. The Catholic Church in Douala runs a center that offers counseling and skills training to women who want to exit. Quote from a Yaoundé pastor: “We must address the poverty, but we cannot call sin a job. The dignity of the woman is not for sale.” Civil Society and Human Rights Groups Groups like REDHAC and Human Is Right Cameroon take a rights-based approach. They argue criminalization drives abuse underground. They call for decriminalization of adult consensual sex work, combined with labor protections and health services. “Arresting women does not create jobs,” says a Douala-based lawyer. “It just makes them more vulnerable to police and clients.” Health Professionals Doctors and NGO health workers focus on pragmatic outcomes. “Our job is to keep people alive,” says a public health nurse in Buea. “If we stigmatize them, they won’t test, and HIV spreads to everyone.” They advocate for more funding for peer outreach and PrEP. Traditional and Community Leaders In many communities, chiefs condemn prostitution publicly but mediate privately when a daughter is involved. There is concern about “family honor.” In border areas, traditional councils sometimes work with police to identify underage girls. Youth and Students University students are split. Some condemn it as moral decay. Others see it as economic reality. On social media, debates flare when a celebrity is linked to a “sugar daddy.” Many young women say: “Give us jobs and we will leave the streets.” Business Community Hotel owners deny involvement but admit short-stay rooms are rented. Bar owners say they don’t “employ” women, but women come to find clients. The Chamber of Commerce wants a “clean” image for investors. International Partners UN agencies and embassies fund HIV and anti-trafficking programs. US State Department TIP reports consistently urge Cameroon to improve victim protection and prosecute traffickers. France and EU fund women’s economic empowerment projects. Case Studies From the Ground Marie, 24, Douala: Dropped out after Form 5. She sends 30,000 CFA monthly to her mother in Bafoussam. “I don’t like this work. But my brother is in school. If I get a shop, I will stop tomorrow.” Maroua: Displaced by Boko Haram. Works in a bar. “Police take 5,000 CFA and let us go. Clients sometimes refuse to pay.” NGO Counselor in Buea: “During the crisis, we saw 15-year-olds. Now some are 20 and still here. We need boarding schools and scholarships, not just sermons.” The stories show the human cost behind the statistics. The Debate: Three Competing Views In Cameroon today, three broad positions dominate: Abolitionist View: Prostitution should be eradicated. Focus on moral education, police action, and providing alternatives. This is the dominant government and church position. Harm Reduction View: You cannot arrest poverty away. Focus on health, safety, and economic options while keeping current laws but enforcing them to protect minors. Decriminalization View: A minority of activists argue for removing criminal penalties for adults, regulating for safety, and treating it as labor. This view is not politically popular in Cameroon but is discussed in academic circles. What Would Change Things? Experts across sectors agree on several needs: Jobs: Industrialization, agriculture value chains, and support for SMEs to absorb youth. Education: Keep girls in school. Scholarships and sanitary pad programs reduce drop-out. Social Protection: Cash transfers for vulnerable households in crisis zones. Legal Clarity: Clear guidelines for police to protect adults from violence while prosecuting trafficking and minors. Health Funding: Scale up condom distribution, testing, and treatment without stigma. Data: Cameroon lacks current national data on the size of sex work. Research would help planning. Conclusion: A National Challenge Prostitution in Cameroon is not just a moral issue. It is an economic, health, and security issue. The law says one thing, reality says another, and people in the middle are trying to survive. The government’s approach is evolving from pure policing to include health and empowerment, but resources are thin. Civil society is pushing for rights and dignity. Religious groups are pushing for values and exit programs. Until there are real alternatives, the trade will continue in bars, on phones, and at borders. The challenge for Cameroon is to protect the vulnerable, uphold the law on minors and trafficking, and build an economy where no young woman has to choose between her dignity and her family’s next meal. CAJ and other media platforms have a role: to report without sensationalism, to highlight solutions, and to keep the conversation honest. Because as one outreach worker said in Limbe: “We cannot solve what we refuse to name.”
