Prostitution in Kenya

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Prostitution in Kenya is widespread.

UNAIDS estimate there to be 133,675 prostitutes in the country.[4]

Many foreign men and women take part in sex tourism, which is thriving at resorts along Kenya's coast. Thousands of girls and boys are involved in casual child prostitution[5] due to poverty in the region.

Sex workers report abuse, extortion and violence from the police.[3]

Japanese prostitutes (the Karayuki-san) serviced British colonialists in Kenya.[6][7]

Sex tourism on the coast

The ministry for tourism in Kenya has been severely criticised because of its lack of response to the booming sex tourism and child exploitation on the Kenyan coast.[8][9]

In 2006, a study by UNICEF reported that up to 30% of the population of children aged between 12 and 18 in the coastal regions of Malindi, Mombasa, Kilifi and Diani were engaged in some form of sex work.[10][11]

Prostitution and health

See also: HIV/AIDS in Kenya

Access to health services is guaranteed by Article 43 of the Kenyan Constitution. However sex workers are often discriminated against and access to health services limited.[3]

Kenya is one of the world's most HIV affected countries.[12] Sex workers are the most affected group within the country. Research has shown that around 30% of sex workers are HIV positive.[12]

Lack of

STIs. Since 2001, the Kenyan Government has been distributing free condoms (180 million in 2013) and educating the public on their use.[12] The University of Nairobi and Prof Elizabeth Ngugi established a program with local prostitutes to educate and empower them by encouraging condom use.[13] A study of Nairobi sex workers in 2015 reported about two thirds always use condoms with clients. This compares with 40% amongst members of the general public who have two or more partners.[12]

HIV and STI testing is voluntary, however as the HIV and AIDS Prevention and Control Act 2006 criminalised HIV transmission, there is some reluctance for sex workers to get tested.[3] The 2015 Nairobi sex workers' study found 86% had been tested, 63% within the previous 12 months.[12]

This booming trade in sex tourism[14] goes on[15] with the Kenyan Tourism Police's full knowledge. They do not want to discourage the hundreds of thousands of white tourists from coming to Kenya's coast, regardless of the damage it does to young Kenyans.[11][16][17]

Sex trafficking

See also: Human trafficking in Kenya

Kenya is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to

UAE. Kenyan women are subjected to forced prostitution in Thailand by Ugandan and Nigerian traffickers.[18]

Some children in Dadaab and Kakuma refugee camps may be subjected to sex trafficking. Children from East Africa and South Sudan are subjected to sex trafficking in Kenya. Trucks transporting goods from Kenya to Somalia returned to Kenya with girls and women subsequently exploited in brothels in Nairobi or Mombasa. Nepalese and Indian women recruited to work in mujra dance clubs in Nairobi and Mombasa face debt bondage, which they are forced to pay off by dancing and forced prostitution.[18]

The United States Department of State Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons ranks Kenya as a 'Tier 2' country.[19]

Online prostitution in Kenya

See also:
Escort service

The boom of online prostitution has been fueled by social media sites such as Tinder and Facebook.[20] In The Verge, November 7, 2014, Frenzen C. was quoted saying, “A group that wants to ban all sex work in Ireland is making fake Tinder profiles” in order to discourage the use of the dating app as a prostitution enabler. According to Fondation Scelles, a French NGO, apps such as AirBnB are being used for such accommodation reservations and in Kenya, the trade has made the shift to online platforms on infamous websites such as: kenyanescorts,[21] nairobihot,[22] kenyaraha[23] and many more bold examples all of whom own .com domains that have been active for more than a decade. However, this new kind of prostitution still hides behind exotic services such as massage therapy and escort services.[24] Online platforms present a greater enforcement challenge than conventional prostitution.[25] The Internet enables clients and working girls to communicate from entirely different locations in making their arrangements. The numbers just keep growing.[26]

See also

References

  1. ^ UNAIDS (20 May 2020). "Kenyan sex workers abandoned and vulnerable during COVID-19". UNAIDS. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
  2. ^ a b "Nairobi County Assembly Bans Sex Work in the City". NSWP. 12 December 2017. Retrieved 17 December 2017.
  3. ^ a b c d "Sexuality, Poverty and Law Programme". Institute of Development Studies. Retrieved 17 December 2017.
  4. ^ "Sex workers: Population size estimate - Number, 2016". www.aidsinfoonline.org. UNAIDS. Archived from the original on 4 June 2019. Retrieved 21 July 2018.
  5. ^ "Child sex for a dollar on Kenya's palm-fringed beaches". Reuters. 14 June 2018. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
  6. ISBN 978-1429900294
    .
  7. ISBN 022407363X
    .
  8. ^ Kenya: Supkem Slams Balala Over Sex Trade. allAfrica.com (26 April 2011). Retrieved on 2011-05-09.
  9. ^ Kenya: Supkem Slams Balala Over Sex Trade Archived 25 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine. Mombasa.travel (26 April 2011). Retrieved on 2011-05-09.
  10. ^ Chris Niles (19 December 2006). "Report reveals Kenyan child sex industry of 'horrific' magnitude". UNICEF.
  11. ^ a b Kenya – Sex tourism in Kenya: One girl’s story. UNICEF. Retrieved on 9 May 2011.
  12. ^ a b c d e "HIV and AIDS in Kenya". AVERT. 14 September 2017. Retrieved 17 December 2017.
  13. S2CID 153033248
    .
  14. ^ Child Prostitution. YouTube (28 September 2009). Retrieved on 2011-05-09.
  15. ^ Untold suffering of Kenya's children – Channel 4 News. Channel4.com. Retrieved on 9 May 2011.
  16. ^ Autumn Sex Tourism Flourishing in … Kenya?. Vagabondish.com (22 February 1999). Retrieved on 2011-05-09.
  17. ^ Hughes, Dana. (7 October 2008) Sun, Safaris and Sex Tourism in Kenya – ABC News. Abcnews.go.com. Retrieved on 2011-05-09.
  18. ^ a b "Kenya 2017 Trafficking in Persons Report". US Department of State Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons. Archived from the original on 3 July 2017. Retrieved 18 December 2017. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  19. ^ "Kenya 2018 Trafficking in Persons Report". U.S. Department of State. Archived from the original on 29 July 2018. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
  20. ISBN 9781447333586
    , retrieved 13 April 2022
  21. ^ Escorts, Kenyan. "VIP Escorts". Kenyan Escorts. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
  22. ^ "Nairobi Hot Sexy Call Girls". Nairobi Hot, Nairobi Raha Escorts & Call Girls. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
  23. ^ "Kenya Raha Escorts and Call girls In Kenya - Kenya Raha - Kenya Escorts & Kenya Call Girls". 4 January 2022. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
  24. ^ Muendo, Stevens. "Forget twilight girls, the business of 'pleasure' is now on leafy suburbs". Standard Entertainment and Lifestyle. Retrieved 13 April 2022.
  25. ^ "Online Prostitution and Trafficking". ResearchGate.
  26. ^ "Online prostitution business is still booming despite coronavirus pa - BNN". 20 August 2020. Retrieved 13 April 2022.

External links

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Bibliography

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