Human Trafficking in [Kenya] [other countries]Street Children in [Kenya] [other countries]Child Prostitution in [Kenya |
Child Prostitution The Commercial Sexual Exploitation of
Children In the
early years of the 21st Century - 2000 to 2010 gvnet.com/childprostitution/Kenya.htm
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CAUTION: The following links and accompanying text have been culled
from the web to illuminate the situation in ***
FEATURED ARTICLE *** Rasna Warah,
Daily Nation, 29 October 2007 www.afrika.no/Detailed/15343.html [accessed 7 June 2011] Many of the children being
exploited are not from the coast region but are imported from rural areas from
around the country. You don’t have to spend a lot of time at the Kenyan
coast to know that child prostitution and sex tourism are rampant there. In Mombasa and Malindi, it is
common to see aging white men well into their 70s and 80s with girls young enough
to be their granddaughters. Locals tolerate this type of sexual
exploitation because, as one put it to me recently, “nothing gets a family
out of poverty faster than a daughter who has a white boyfriend.” In
many cases, girls are encouraged by none other than their parents and
relatives to look for older white men who will not only pay the girl for her
services, but her family as well. ***
ARCHIVES *** ECPAT Global Monitoring Report on the status of action
against commercial exploitation of children - KENYA [PDF] ECPAT International, 2007 http://www.ecpat.net/A4A_2005/PDF/AF/Global_Monitoring_Report-KENYA.pdf [accessed 7 June 2011] Commercial sexual exploitation of
children (CSEC) in A number of agencies have reported
on the growing incidence of child sex tourism in the past five years,
especially along the coastal areas. The UNICEF study, The Extent and Effect
of Sex Tourism and Sexual Exploitation of Children on the Kenyan Coast,
conducted and released in 2006, indicates that up to 30 per cent of all the
12 to 18-year-olds living in the coastal areas of Malindi,
Mombasa, Kilifi and Diani are involved in casual sex work. As such, it is
estimated that 10,000 to 15,000 girls living in these areas are being
sexually exploited in tourism at irregular intervals or seasonally. A further
2,000 to 3,000 girls and boys are sexually exploited year-round by sex
tourists, in these same areas. Other estimates suggest that as many as 30,000
girls between the ages of 12 and 14 are lured into hotels and private villas
to be sexually exploited. During the low tourism season, local demand
sustains the sexual exploitation of children. Children involved in
prostitution are also compelled to provide sex to locals who help them gain
access to tourists, such as beach boys, bar staff, waiters and others. These
illegal activities involve tour operators, hotels and well-connected agents. The Department of Labor’s 2004 Findings on the Worst Forms
of Child Labor www.dol.gov/ilab/media/reports/iclp/tda2004/kenya.htm [accessed 16 February 2011] INCIDENCE
AND NATURE OF CHILD LABOR - There is a high incidence of child prostitution in Human Rights Reports » 2005
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61575.htm [accessed 16 February 2011] CHILDREN - Trafficking in children was a
problem, as was child prostitution. Child prostitution has grown considerably
due both to economic contraction and to the increase in the number of
children orphaned because of the spread of HIV/AIDS. According to the
International Labor Organization (ILO), approximately 30 thousand girls under
the age of 19 years were engaged in prostitution in the country. Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Rights of
the Child (CRC) UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, 12 October 2001 www1.umn.edu/humanrts/crc/kenya2001.html [accessed 16 February 2011] [61] The Committee notes that the
State party participated in the World Congress against Commercial Sexual
Exploitation, held in Asia Is Not Alone: Sex Tourism in Josh Ruxin, The New York Times,
January 13, 2009 kristof.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/13/asia-is-not-alone-sex-tourism-in-mombasa/ [accessed 7 June 2011] Most child prostitution incidents
go unreported, but when they’re brought to light, authorities mostly do
nothing. They downplay Mombasa’s role as a
child-sex capital for fear that its already fragile tourism industry would be
further affected. The laws don’t help either, since they don’t specifically
address child prostitution or provide for stiff punishment of offenders. Child prostitution up after Cable News Network CNN, July 31, 2008 current.com/entertainment/wtf/89155417_child-prostitution-up-after-kenyas-election-bloodshed.htm [accessed 7 June 2011] This time last year, Janet Kimani spent her days at school and her nights fighting
with her little brothers over what to watch on the family's flickering TV
set. A girl lies in a brothel next to
a baby born to a prostitute in Mombasa, Kenya, a
center of trade in underage girls. 1
of 2 Now, she sleeps all day and sells her skinny, 14-year-old body at night
for $3 an hour. "There are so
many of us girls on the streets these days," Janet, dressed in a black
miniskirt and white blouse, told The Associated Press in Eldoret,
a western Kenya town that was a flashpoint of this year's deadly postelection crisis. UN Integrated Regional Information Networks IRIN PlusNews, 208.106.251.104/Report.aspx?ReportID=79505 [accessed 6 June 2011] A HIGH-RISK LIFE - "These people have to make
a living, so the girls often turn to sex work and will easily have sex
without protection; they are also unprotected from sexual violence," Wairimu said. "They are especially vulnerable
because many are children orphaned by HIV and have had no real family
structures around them when they were growing up." Illegal drugs were widely available on the
streets, and while high on glue and other substances, young people often made
unsafe sexual choices or shared needles, putting themselves at greater risk
of contracting HIV. "The majority
of the street families in Mombasa and elsewhere
have succumbed to HIV due to the 'don't care' lifestyle practiced on the
streets," Dona said, adding that people living on the street were
extremely sexually active. - sccp Daily Nation, allafrica.com/stories/200712101915.html [partially accessed 7 June 2011 - access restricted] Hoteliers want a new law enacted
to allow State inspectors to access private villas and homes to fight child
prostitution. The Kenya Association of
Hotelkeepers and Caterers (KAHC) claimed there was a possibility of child sex
abusers fleeing from mainstream hotels and finding new hideouts in the
villas, small lodgings and private homes.
KAHC Coast branch chairman, Mr Mohamed Hersi, also urged the government to bar 29 listed
international child sex abusers from entering the country. Their names and
descriptions are on the internet, he said.
A recent report by United Nations International Child Education
Foundation reveals that today, major hotels account for four per cent of
child sex tourism while private villas and homes account for 12 per cent. Chad child scandal can hit Kenya Munene Kilongi,
At one time this article had been archived and may
possibly still be accessible [here]
[accessed 7 June 2011] In Rasna Warah,
Daily Nation, 29 October 2007 www.afrika.no/Detailed/15343.html [accessed 7 June 2011] Many of the children being
exploited are not from the coast region but are imported from rural areas
from around the country. You don’t have to spend a lot of time at the
Kenyan coast to know that child prostitution and sex tourism are rampant
there. In Mombasa and Malindi,
it is common to see aging white men well into their 70s and 80s with girls
young enough to be their granddaughters. Locals tolerate this type of
sexual exploitation because, as one put it to me recently, “nothing gets a
family out of poverty faster than a daughter who has a white
boyfriend.” In many cases, girls are encouraged by none other than
their parents and relatives to look for older white men who will not only pay
the girl for her services, but her family as well. New study shames human traffickers Patrick Mathangani, The East
Standard, May 11, 2007 At one time this article had been archived and may
possibly still be accessible [here]
[accessed 14 September 2011] Dr George Gona,
an expert on trade unions at the Prostitution luring girls from schools Mathias Ringa, The East
Standard, www.oijj.org/news_ficha.php?home=SI&cod=44215&pags=0&idioma=en [accessed 7 June 2011] Child prostitution is one of the
major challenges to education of girls in About Village Volunteers www.villagevolunteers.org/kenya.php#womensissues [accessed 7 June 2011] WOMEN’S ISSUES - Girls often lack the
information and power necessary to negotiate for delayed or safe sex. Girls
living in the rural areas are particularly vulnerable: they are living in
poverty and have limited opportunities for education and employment. Many
girls and young women are forced into sexual trading in order to survive.
Some are forced into marriage at an early age, becoming parents and family
caretakers while still in their teens. They are deprived of their rights as
children and are denied rights to develop at the natural pace. First Lady urges the church to empower vulnerable groups State House, www.statehousekenya.go.ke/oafla/news/april07/2007140401.htm [accessed 7 June 2011] The First Lady, at the same time,
expressed the need for the Church in the Coastal region to step up measures
to protect young girls from sexual exploitation. She regretted that the incidence of child
prostitution and sex tourism was high at the Coast. The First Lady also expressed the
need for churches to make deliberate efforts to mobilize communities to take
action towards solving problems that affect them. UN Integrated Regional Information Networks IRIN In-Depth,
www.irinnews.org/InDepthMain.aspx?InDepthId=28&ReportId=69989&Country=Yes [accessed 7 June 2011] Western countries accused of fueling conflicts in Africa www.kbc.co.ke/story.asp?ID=41001 [Last access date unavailable]] At the same time the minister
instructed Labour officers countrywide to crackdown on farms and other
facilities that may be promoting child labour. He said the recent shocking revelation of
child-prostitution in the country was worrying and warned that the
perpetrators will soon be brought to book. A generation betrayed [access information unavailable] Nation Newspapers carries a story
today where the German ambassador to The ambassador states that the
practice of child trafficking and prostitution is rampant due to private
villas where these activities are carried out. Kenya currently has the
notorious reputation as a hot sex tourism destination. Most of these villas
are rented by visiting tourists. Anything can happen behind closed doors and
nothing can be done to these law breakers. At 20,000 a year, these are too
many children who fall through the cracks without the care of the government
or families. With unmonitored villas and houses, the practice continues
without interruption. Child Prostitution in Joshua Wanyama, African Path,
December 19, 2006 At one time this article had been archived and may
possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 7 June 2011] What is even surprising is the
fact that children are coming to the coastal region which is in the east from
While the starting age of these
sex workers wasn’t mentioned, the fact that they are in primary school puts
them between ages 10 and 14. This is truly sad. How can we protect the
innocence of youth and help develop our children into mature and whole adults
while they are exposed to such circumstances? Campaign for hotels to sign ethics code Patrick Mayoyo, Daily Nation, 06
Feb 2007 www.business-humanrights.org/Links/Repository/229656/link_page_view [accessed 7 June 2011] A campaign has been launched to
ensure that hotels in TRAINING WORKERS - The code calls for ethical policy regarding commercial sexual exploitation of children from hotels and for them to train their employees on how to prevent child sexual exploitation by tourists. The campaign follows the release of a report by UNICEF in December, which revealed that child prostitution at the coast had hit alarming levels. A campaign has been launched to
ensure that hotels in Coast Province sign a code of conduct to protect
children from commercial sexual exploitation. TRAINING WORKERS - The code calls for ethical policy
regarding commercial sexual exploitation of children from hotels and for them
to train their employees on how to prevent child sexual exploitation by
tourists. The campaign follows the release
of a report by UNICEF in December, which revealed that child prostitution at
the coast had hit alarming levels. Child prostitution reaching alarming levels in Kenya Australian Broadcasting Corporation ABC News, December 20,
2006 www.abc.net.au/news/2006-12-20/child-prostitution-reaching-alarming-levels-in/2158144 [accessed 19 September 2011] A report undertaken by the Kenyan
Government and the UN children's fund, UNICEF, studied the sexual
exploitation of children on the Kenyan coast.
It found that 30 per cent of girls aged between 12 and 18 are selling
sex for cash at resorts and that most of their clients are European men. The shame of Kenya’s Coast Ngumbao Kithi,
The East African At one time this article had been archived and may
possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 7 June 2011] The The promise of easy money has seen
underage girls registering for identity cards to falsify their ages and be
allowed to gain entry into hotels and entertainment spots, says the report by
the United Nations Children’s Education Fund (UNICEF). New UNICEF-research in Astrid Winkler, Respect www.unicef.or.jp/code-p/pdf/CCNewsletter-IX_9-2006.pdf [accessed 7 June 2011] [Page 9] Commercial sex tourism is gaining
acceptance among children at the Coast, a new study has revealed. The study
says 76.3 per cent of girls interviewed said the practice was a "normal
and an acceptable means to earn a living". In more shocking findings of
the study on the extent of sex tourism and sexual exploitation of children at
the Coast, the UNICEF reports that 35.5 per cent of the girls and boys
interviewed said they had unprotected sex when their clients demanded it. Prostitution in Isiolo Alarming Joseph M. Muriuki, The Nation, At one time this article had been archived and may
possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 7 June 2011] Child prostitution in Isiolo town has reached alarming levels and steps should
be taken urgently to stem it. Young
girls aged between 14 and 16 year comb the streets of the town at night or
hang near bars and brothels waiting for clients. Many young girls drop out of
school to join the booming prostitution business, which is seen as an
alternative way out of poverty. Prostitutes 'play risk lottery' Agence France-Presse
AFP, www.news24.com/World/News/Prostitutes-play-risk-lottery-20060817 [accessed 9 June 2011] Child prostitutes in Kenya play a
risky lottery with HIV infection, seeing up to five partners a night and
using condoms only 60% of the time, says a United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) researcher. The glimpse into child
prostitution in Kenya was presented by the Unicef
at the 16th International Aids Conference, and lifted the veil on a world
previously closed to researchers working on the global HIV epidemic. Parents accused of luring girls into prostitution Philip Mbaji, The East Standard,
August 7, 2006 At one time this article had been archived and may
possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 9 June 2011] An international NGO has accused
parents in Kwale District of encouraging their
children to engage in prostitution.
World Vision-Kenya officials said many parents in the district
encouraged their daughters to indulge in prostitution with tourists and other
clients for cash. Child Trafficking in the Ambrose Musiyiwa (amusiyiwa), OhmyNews, 2006-07-25 english.ohmynews.com/articleview/article_view.asp?article_class=5&no=293231&rel_no=6 [accessed 17 February 2011] She was a teenage orphan living on
the streets of True to his word, her
"savior" brought her into the U.K. -- but instead of placing her
with a family the man took her to a brothel, where she was systematically
raped, beaten, and forced to work as a prostitute. Three months later, when the
16-year-old Kenyan girl became pregnant, she was forced to continue sleeping
with a succession of men until she was almost due to give birth. The heavily
pregnant teenager was then removed from the brothel, driven out of the town
where she had been held, and dumped many miles away on the streets of
Sheffield. Booming tourism boosts juvenile sex trade UN Integrated Regional Information Networks IRIN, MALINDI,
17 July 2006 www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportid=59664 [accessed 9 June 2011] Sixteen-year-old Judy (not her
real name) sits in a nightclub sipping beer with two other girls in this
coastal resort town popular with foreign tourists thanks to its numerous
beach hotels and villas. She is one of a rising number of
under-age girls who have taken to commercial sex due to poverty or the allure
of easy money from tourists. "I had no choice, I had dropped out of
school, I had no job and my parents have four other children to take care
of," said Judy. Her 58-year-old European boyfriend has bought her a car,
pays her rent and gives her money to support her family. Hotels warned over child prostitution Emmanuel Kola,
Kenya Broadcasting Corp KBC, June 02, 2006 At one time this article had been archived and may
possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 9 June 2011] The Coat PC, Ernest munyi has decried child prostitution and alcohol abuse by
teenagers in some bars, tourist hotels and disco joints especially in Five Years After ECPAT: Fifth Report on
implementation of the Agenda for Action ECPAT International, November 2001 www.no-trafficking.org/content/web/05reading_rooms/five_years_after_stockholm.pdf [accessed 13 September 2011] [B]
COUNTRY UPDATES – Dzoro can do better in war on sex pests The East Standard, May 22, 2006 At one time this article had been archived and may
possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 9 June 2011] Child prostitution is one of the
numerous abuses that dehumanise children everywhere
in the country. Where children are not being enslaved into prostitution, they
are being defiled, tortured and, at times, killed by the very people who are
supposed to protect them — parents and guardians. Raided Hotel Tied to Child Prostitution, Says Minister The Nation, At one time this article had been archived and may
possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 9 June 2011] Mr Dzoro
told the Nation in an interview that he had interviewed mothers of the three
schoolgirls, who confirmed that they regularly offered their daughters, aged
between eight and 14 years, to the tourists for sex in exchange for cash. Child Prostitution a Menace at
the Coast www.crin.org/violence/search/closeup.asp?infoID=6937 [accessed 9 June 2011] Participants said children are
lured into having sex with tourists along the beach. They claimed the
children are also forced to take nude photographs, which the tourists later
use to produce pornographic material in their countries. High poverty level
and pressure from parents were the main reasons given for the abuse. The Protection Project - The www.protectionproject.org/human_rights_reports/report_documents/kenya.doc [accessed 2009] Child sex tourism has also been
increasing in Sexual Abuse Continues Unabated Esther Mwangi, News from www.newsfromafrica.org/newsfromafrica/articles/art_2622.html [accessed 9 June 2011] Even with the enactment of the
Children s Act in March 2002, sexual exploitation of children continues
unabated with disastrous consequences, owing to a number of underlying
factors. The AIDS/Orphan Situation in Twana Twitu
(Our Children) twanatwitucares.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=27&Itemid=44 [accessed 9 June 2011] CHILD
PROSTITUTION (A.K.A. "SURVIVAL SEX") - It has been found that even guardians and others
initially willing to help, find themselves unable to cope with the additional
responsibility of supporting extra children. As a result, guardians are
increasingly either sending these children out to the streets with
instructions to return home with money or expelling them from their homes. So,
what happens to a child with nowhere to go? What is the quickest way for a
teenager to make money? For females, prostitution is usually the easiest
option. STREET LIFE - As others have said, the AIDS
pandemic is devastating The vicious circle of sexual exploitation Zachary Ochieng, News from www.newsfromafrica.org/newsfromafrica/articles/art_854.html [accessed 17 February 2011] According to the report, child
sexual exploitation in Kenya exists in the form of child prostitution,
incest, early child marriages, rape, sodomy, indecent assault, and
defilement. The report notes that there are a number of children joining
prostitution as a means of survival. Children - especially those from slum
areas - are exposed to sex at an early age. "An overwhelming majority of
children in Kenya are abused in the streets. They are either orphaned,
destitute or from families facing conflicts", says the report. A unique feature of child
prostitution in Kenya is that people take in destitute children but instead
of caring for them, they hire the children out as prostitutes from time to time.
Some children are also kept in brothels alongside adult prostitutes - htcp Child Prostitutes Brought to SA Mandy Rossouw, BEELD, www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Child-prostitutes-brought-to-SA-20030219 [accessed 9 June 2011] Child prostitution is flourishing
in Talking about CSEC ECPAT International Newsletters, Issue No : 48 1/July/2004 At one time this article had been archived and may
possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 9 June 2011] In Who are the Street Children? Kivuli (Shelter) - The House of Street
Children web.peacelink.it/koinonia_eng.html [accessed 7 June 2011] They are children who cannot rely
on their families to provide them what's necessary to live and grow up
peacefully. Even though few of them still maintain some kind of bond with
their parents, particularly with their mothers, street children live by their
wits in the back streets of huge cities, begging, collecting garbage to be
recycled, committing thefts or prostituting themselves. Sexual Abuse Part of Life for Gary Strieker, Cable News
Network CNN, edition.cnn.com/WORLD/9608/28/kenya.kids/ [accessed 6 June 2011] Sexual exploitation is a fact of
life for them. They can't avoid sexual
abuse because when they sleep, wherever they sleep, it's on the streets. For girls on the streets, as young as six
or seven years, sexual abuse usually starts in gangs. When they are new on the streets, they are
raped in order to be accepted as a member of the street gang, Report on the mission of the
Special Rapporteur on the issue of commercial
sexual exploitation of children to UN Economic and Social Council Commission on Human Rights,
Fifty-fourth session, 28 January 1998 www.unhchr.ch/Huridocda/Huridoca.nsf/TestFrame/e420d3b0329db6b8c1256621002cb691?Opendocument [accessed 7 June 2011] 3. At the same time, specialists
working with children in the streets were of the opinion that poverty per se
is not the only cause, although it certainly aggravates matters, but that
abuse or rejection within families is the primary reason for the increase in
street children and the consequent vulnerability to commercial sexual
exploitation. The breakdown of traditional family values and the culture of
African extended family were frequently cited as most compelling causes
leading to a moral disintegration of society, again making children more
vulnerable to sexual exploitation. Children escape physical and sexual abuse
from home and from dysfunctional families affected by unemployment, substance
abuse and criminality, and end up in the streets. Cultural practices in some
communities (such as Nanyuki/Mt. Kenya) where
families send children out to earn money through prostitution are also compounding
the problem of sexual exploitation of children, but poverty is once again the
underlying factor. 4. In addition, the increasing
number of single parent families, and in particular female-headed households,
results in children having to supplement the family income or being left to
their own devices. In view of the scarcity of employment opportunities, girl
children might often be pushed to engage in commercial sex, with or without
the knowledge of their parents or family. – sccp All material used herein
reproduced under the fair use exception of 17 USC § 107 for noncommercial,
nonprofit, and educational use. PLEASE
RESPECT COPYRIGHTS OF COMPONENT ARTICLES.
Cite this webpage as: Patt, Prof. Martin, "Child Prostitution - |
Human Trafficking in [Kenya] [other countries]Street Children in [Kenya] [other countries]Child Prostitution in [Kenya