Prostitution in Sierra Leone is legal[1][2] and commonplace.[3] Soliciting and 3rd party involvement are prohibited by the Sexual Offences Act 2012.[4] UNAIDS estimate there are 240,000 prostitutes in the country.[5] They are known locally as 'serpents' because of the hissing noise they use to attract clients.[6]
Sex workers report they are often abused, harassed and suffer extortion by the police.[3]
In 1787 the British Crown founded a settlement in Sierra Leone in what was called the "Province of Freedom". It intended to resettle some of the "Black Poor of London," mostly African Americans freed by the British during the American Revolutionary War. About 290 free black men, 41 black women and 60 white prostitutes from London reached Sierra Leone on 15 May 1787.[7]
Since the end of the ten-year civil war in Sierra Leone, there has been an increase in child prostitution, especially among children who are struggling to survive.[8] This has happened in spite of the fact that child prostitution is illegal in the country.[9]