Prisoners forced to work as prostitutes

MAPUTO: Wardens at Mozambique’s largest women’s prison are forcing inmates into prostitution and punishing those who refuse, according to a local anti-corruption organisation.

In a report published on Tuesday by the Centre for Public Integrity, guards at the Ndlavela Women’s Prison in Maputo are forcing inmates to have sex with clients for between $50 and $250, cash which the wardens have pocketed themselves.

The women are taken out of the prison “three or four times a week” and taken to guesthouses where they are pimped out to clients, the report said.

Following the report’s publication, justice minister Helena Kida visited the prison yesterday and ordered an urgent government inquiry.