Prostitutes, clients and any involved third parties (such as pimps and brothel keepers) are criminalised by the country's Penal Code.
[7] On 23 September 2006, the Minister of Gender and Family Promotion Valeria Nyirahabineza ordered prostitutes in Rwanda to stop selling sex otherwise they would face legal action.
[13] In March 2007 President Paul Kagame gave a speech stating that prostitution in Rwanda must be stopped.
[16] One victim was described by neighbours as having had the words "I will stop once I have killed 400 prostitutes" carved into the flesh of her stomach, although this was dismissed as a rumour by the police.
[17] Rwanda is a source, transit, and to a lesser extent, destination country for women, and children subjected to sex trafficking.
In previous years, Rwandan victims were exploited in South Africa, Malaysia, the United States, and Europe.
According to an international organisation, there has been an increase in sex trafficking of Burundian male and female teenagers through Rwanda to third countries since 2015.