It was 4:00 a.m. when Adamsay Bangura and a friend walked through the deserted streets of Freetown’s central business district. The area was dark with only a few lights flickering overhead. The two women recounted the party they’d attended, chatted together and laughed at insider jokes… until a Sierra Leone Police truck drove up behind them. The truck sounded the horn as five police officers jumped out of the vehicle. The women turned and were immediately arrested.
The Police accused the two women of being prostitutes or commercial sex workers. But, in Sierra Leone, there are no laws against prostitution, solicitation or commercial sex work. So, the Police use an antiquated law from 1965, the Public Order Act, to arrest women for loitering. The discretionary law allows Police to arrest almost anyone, at any time of day or night.
Section 7 of the 1965 Public Order Act states, “Any person loitering in or about any stable house or building, or under any piazza, or in the open air, and not having any visible means of subsistence, and not giving a good account of himself, shall be deemed an idle and disorderly person, and shall, on conviction thereof, be liable to imprisonment for any period, not exceeding one month.”
Twenty-eight year old Bangura said she was arrested and detained at the Central Police Station in Freetown for two weeks. The two women were later charged to court for loitering and sentenced by a magistrate to two months in prison.
In 2019, AdvocAid Sierra Leone, an organization that speaks for women in conflict with the law, recorded 32 loitering cases of commercial sex workers in police custody and the court. Among the 32 cases, 16 were fined and five were sentenced to three months to one year in prison.
The former Executive Director of AdvocAid, Simitie Lavaly, said, “The police must have reasonable grounds to arrest you, like if they suspect you have committed an offence or are about to commit an offence. They cannot arrest you for no reason or because of your gender or just because they are police officers.” She added, “The charge of loitering is a restriction on your right to move freely within Sierra Leone and should not be abused by the police.”
Within the Mano River Union, prostitution is illegal in Guinea and Liberia. Meanwhile, there is no law that prohibits prostitution in Sierra Leone and Ivory Coast but the act of soliciting, pandering or the running of brothels is prohibited. In 2018, UNAIDs reported that Sierra Leone has the highest number of commercial sex workers in the Mano River Union with an estimated of 240,000 prostitutes. Of course, it is incredibly difficult to estimate numbers given the underground nature of commercial sex work.
Julie M. Sesay, Programme Manager at AdvocAid, said police sometimes arrest the sex workers after a shift on the street when their purses are full. “After arresting them they (the Police) will ask them to bail themselves with sex or money.” Sesay said police have no right to arrest commercial sex workers for loitering. “The loitering law says you should not be at a place without a purpose, but these people are out there for a purpose and their purpose is to work and make money. They are not robbers or any form of criminals,” Sesay said. She added, “The Police should not request a bribe to release you from custody or to secure bail; bail is free.”
Superintendent Brima Kamara, Head of Media at the Sierra Leone Police, said there is no specific time to arrest for loitering – “daytime or at night.” He mentioned they use their discretion to decided whether to charge offenders or not.
He also said, “It is unprofessional for police to have sexual intercourse with people they arrest and anyone found wanting of such act will be dismissed from the police.” But, the reality is often different. Kamara cited an instance where two officers were accused of having sex with a commercial sex worker in Bo, in the southern district of Sierra Leone. Those Police officers were dismissed and later charged to court. “You cannot have sex with somebody you should protect,” Kamara said.
On the other hand, Kamara also accused commercial sex workers of sometimes aiding criminals to commit offenses by acting as “look outs”. “When police found out that they are parties to that crime we arrest them for the crime and not their trade.” Sup. Kamara could not provide specific statistics on loitering cases but said, from experience, police arrest more men than women for loitering.
Isata Kamara, 23, said she and a friend were arrested while standing outside a nightclub in the east of Freetown. “We were just standing talking and getting some fresh air. The Police started shouting at us calling us, and the group of people around, idlers, prostitutes and no goods.” Kamara and a group of young people were arrested and detained overnight at the Kissy Road Police Station and told they would be charged with loitering. In the morning, each person was given their phone back and told to call someone to bail them out. Kamara called a friend who paid the Police Sergeant Le250,000 (approximately $25 USD) for her release.
