A disturbing investigation has revealed the existence of a sex trafficking network operating in Dubai’s high-end neighbourhoods, exploiting vulnerable women from East Africa.
The operation is allegedly run by a man identified as Charles Mwesigwa, who recruits young women from Uganda with promises of legitimate jobs in supermarkets, hotels, and other businesses. Upon arrival, many discover they are instead forced into sex work under harsh and degrading conditions.
Testimonies from survivors paint a grim picture of abuse, coercion, and financial exploitation. Women describe being trapped with fabricated debts for travel, visas, and accommodation, which rapidly escalate into tens of thousands of dollars. To repay these debts, they are compelled to participate in extreme sexual acts, often catering to wealthy clients with disturbing fetishes. Some women recounted being subjected to violent assaults, humiliation, and requests involving bodily waste.
At least two women linked to the network, Monic Karungi and Kayla Birungi, died after falling from high-rise apartments in Dubai. Official reports ruled the deaths as suicides, but their families and friends insist the circumstances were suspicious and insufficiently investigated. In Monic’s case, her body was never returned to her family and is believed to have been buried in an unmarked graveyard reserved for unidentified migrants.
Former insiders claim that Mwesigwa maintains his operation by paying off nightclub security and ensuring his name rarely appears on rental or car hire documents. Women housed in overcrowded apartments reportedly lived in market-like conditions, with dozens sharing cramped spaces while being rotated to serve clients.
The exploitation pipeline thrives on Uganda’s rising unemployment and the lure of opportunities abroad. Many women are misled into believing they will secure well-paying jobs, only to be sold into sexual slavery. Activists working to rescue victims warn that hundreds continue to be trapped in similar schemes across the Gulf.
Families of the victims continue to seek justice, raising concerns that without stronger interventions, countless others remain at risk. The chilling accounts underline not only the scale of the exploitation but also the racial dynamics at play, as women report being specifically targeted for abuse because of their skin colour.
For those who survived, the scars of exploitation remain, but their testimonies shine a light on a hidden industry of abuse that thrives in silence.
