Prostitution in the Gambia prison for up to 50 years. The Gambia is a source and destination country for women and children subjected to sex trafficking. Within The Gambia, women, girls, and—to a lesser extent—boys are subjected to sex trafficking. Women and children from West African countries—mainly Senegal, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ghana, Nigeria, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, and Benin—are recruited for commercial sexual exploitation in The Gambia. Prostitution in the Gambia Prostitution in the Gambia is widespread but illegal. Most of the estimated 3,100 prostitutes in the Gambia are from Senegal. Prostitution takes place on the beach, in bars and hotels on the coast. Away from
The Gambia shares historical roots with many other West African nations in the slave trade, which was the key factor in the placing and keeping of a colony on the Gambia River, first by the Portuguese, during which era it was known as "A Gâmbia". Later, on 25 May 1765, The Gambia was made a part of the British Empire when the government formally assumed control, establishing the Province of Senegambia. In 1965, the Gambia gained independence under the leadership of Dawda Jawara, who ruled until Yahya Jammeh seized power in a bloodless 1994 coup. Adama Barrow became the Gambia's third president