DZALEKA, Malawi — Just before midnight on a Thursday last month, 22-year-old Louisa and her two friends entered the crowded bar at Dzaleka refugee camp, in Dowa district in central Malawi, dressed in revealing attire.
Louisa, who started working as a sex worker last year, told Devex that “life has not been easy the past few months.”
For the remaining night hours, she will dance and drink until a client takes her out, either to another bar or to any nearby lodge for the night. “I have to do this if I have to take care of my daughter’s needs and make ends meet as our monthly cash transfers were recently drastically reduced,” said Louisa — whose full name has been withheld to protect her identity.
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About the author
Madalitso Wills KatetaMadatso_Kateta
Madalitso Wills Kateta is a Malawi-based Devex contributing reporter. He specializes in gender, human rights, climate change, politics, and global development reporting. He has written for the Thomson Reuters Foundation, The New Humanitarian, African Arguments, Equal Times, and others.
