Human Trafficking in [Kenya] [other countries]Street Children in [Kenya] [other countries]Child Prostitution in [Kenya
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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 Click [here]
to connect. The URL is not shown
because of its length [accessed 23 April 2012] 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
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Prof. Martin, "Child Prostitution - |
Human Trafficking in [Kenya] [other countries]Street Children in [Kenya] [other countries]Child Prostitution in [Kenya