Prostitution in Kenya

Prostitution in Kenya is illegal. However, many foreign men and women indulge in sex tourism, which is thriving at resorts along Kenya's coast. Thousands of girls and boys are involved in full-time child prostitution due to poverty in the region.

One of the most prominent reasons for prostitution is poverty. Many families guide their children in the direction of prostitution in order to gain salary to help support the family for food and other needs. Girls in particular become extremely vulnerable and desperately need money, and this is when they become the main target for prostitution. Since prostitution is such a profitable activity many families in Kenya allow their children to get into the prostitution industry at a very young age in order to get money. In Kenya, a sexual encounter with a girl under the age of sixteen can cost twenty Euros, but can go up to as high as sixty Euros. This is financially beneficial because the average Kenyan only earns four Euros a day which is most definitely not enough to survive. They believe that the money over powers the horrible situation they put their child through. Up to 30,000 girls between the ages of 12 and 14 are being lured into the industry after being promised with riches and trips abroad after the sexual activity is done; as we would conclude nothing is actually given to them afterwards and these girls then fall into the trap of prostitution in which they can’t get out of afterwards. A study by UNICEF found that there is a high level of acceptance of prostitution and commercial sexual abuse not only by tourists, but by the people of Kenya including parents of the girls that are involved in these acts. Girls at a young age are forced into the sexual industry in order to survive; they lose their rights as young children and as they grow older are denied their rights to develop at the natural pace. They lack financial support from their husbands or extended family, they endure economic pressures and because of their instability they have no choice but to view prostitution as an option for themselves. They have now engaged themselves in prostitution not out of necessity but in hope that it will bring them a better life for their family and themselves. They have let go of their values and morals in order to gain a profit to finically support themselves.

Due to the increase amount of young girls going into the world of prostitution the spread of HIV/AIDS has vastly conquered much of Kenya in a short period of time. Many girls lack the information and knowledge about learning about the practice of safe sex and using protection when being involved in sexual activates. Since girls are extremely vulnerable, living in poverty with no food or money they lack the opportunities for education or even employment. Prostitutes in Kenya involve themselves in a risky lottery with HIV/AIDS infection when most of them see up to five partners a night and only use a condom 60% of the time. Injuries like bruises, bones, and fractured bones, also happen to women because of the lack of protection they have against men. HIV/AIDS, herpes, human papilloma virus are all high affecting viruses that women catch through prostitution because of the lack of protection they use amongst themselves.

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