ICC Note: Many Cameroonian girls who lived near the Lake Chad Basin have been forced from their homes by Boko Haram. When they fled to larger and safer areas of Cameroon, many had to turn to prostitution in order to survive. Despite Boko Haram being based out of Nigeria, they have still had a large devastating impact on other nearby countries as well.

05/12/2018 Cameroon (Independent Online) – Maroua, Cameroon – D jamila lowers her eyes and nervously fiddles with the veil covering part of her face. She has bathed, put on her nicest clothes and is heading out to a busy crossroads called the “Old Manor” in Maroua, capital of Cameroon’s far north.

This is where the 16-year-old meets her friends most nights – not for fun but to walk the streets. Since Boko Haram ran them out of their villages, the girls turned to sex work to survive.

“I go look for money to feed myself,” Djamila said in the quiet of a nearby office building, her eyes fixed on the floor. She hesitated before continuing.

“I sleep with men and they give me money.”

Three years ago, she was a happy middle school student in the village of Amchide on the Nigerian border. When the Islamist militants attacked in 2015, she was separated from her parents and fled into the woods.

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