Beyond Desperation: The Harsh Reality of Survival and Prostitution in Kinshasa's Pakadjuma

Kinshasa, DRC - In Pakadjuma, a neighborhood in the DRC’s capital, Kinshasa, young women are turning to prostitution to support themselves and their families.

By day, Pakadjuma mirrors the hustle of Kinshasa. As you walk around the neighborhood, you see houses built from worn sheets of metal and sheets of wood, wild grasses, stagnant water, and garbage give off an unbearable odor. Right next door, young people are playing football. A few young children, shirtless, play marbles and other games. Two women in singlets, loincloths, and slippers are carrying malnourished children. Water – a basic necessity – is a luxury here. 

But as night falls, the neighborhood transforms. Music blares from the terrace speakers. Everything wakes up. Most residents live in slums made of used sheet metal or triplexes fixed to the ground using pieces of electrical cables. The neighborhood becomes a place where survival is often synonymous with prostitution. 

In the eastern Congo, more than half of women are illiterate, and only 46% of girls who attend primary school move on to secondary school. In Pakadjuma, the livelihood for many young women is a choice between prostitution and the sale of “lotoko,” a local homemade alcohol. Girls as young as 14 are pushed into prostitution to meet their needs and those of their families. Despite awareness campaigns against STIs and HIV, these practices continue.

The community of Pakadjuma grapples with more than poverty. They confront a system that routinely fails them. Snel, the state-owned electricity company, is notorious for demanding payments for non-provided services. Some of Pakadjuma’s youth find honest work in ports and bus stops. Still, many others are drawn into alcoholism, theft, prostitution, and banditry, known locally as “Kuluna.” The robbers impose a toll on bread sellers and parcel carriers present in ports. The neighborhood is plagued by unsanitary conditions - stagnant water, unhygienic toilets, and a complete lack of waste management systems. The Kalamu River, a dumping ground, exacerbates the risk of floods and diseases. 

Rebecca Musala is a parcel carrier in nearby Limete: “Our daily earnings vary between 5 and 10 thousand francs, less than 5 dollars. Feeding the family is our priority. We are condemned to pay 10 thousand francs in monthly rent,” she tells More to Her Story.

Charlie Mongala is 35 years old and a former “woman laborer” in Mont-Ngafula. After falling ill, Ms. Mongala moved to Pakadjuma. “I was managing in the fish business before falling ill in 2017. My husband and one of our children also fell ill. We visited hospitals and health centers to find out its origin. We did voluntary screening and other examinations without success. This disease has left me crippled to this day,” explains Ms. Mongala, on the verge of tears. “Our living conditions had become very difficult when we came to Pakadjuma,”

According to a report from SudExpressMedia, the majority of women in Pakadjuma are engaged in the sex trade, driven by the high unemployment rates in the area. The World Bank's 2021 estimates show that unemployment among women in Pakadjuma is 4.7%, and for young people aged 15 to 24, it's around 8%. These women face physical and safety risks, including encounters with violent clients and the threat of sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV.

The situation in Pakadjuma is a reflection of broader challenges faced in the DRC, where poverty, unemployment, and lack of education create environments where prostitution can seem like one of the few viable options for survival. The ongoing conflict in the DRC has had a devastating impact on women and girls, with reports of over 35,000 survivors of gender-based violence seeking treatment and services in the first half of 2023 alone.

Some community leaders like Ms. Espérance Kissimbila, coordinator of the Association for the Supervision, Promotion, and Development of Women and Children in eastern DRC, believe change is possible. “The history of the women of Pakadjuma dates back a very long time,” she tells More to Her Story. “We must offer them good living conditions in a healthy environment and allow them to benefit from training in income-generating activities. With government support, they will be able to support themselves and be useful to society.”