Flashback to a digital essay I posted online on December 17, 2003:
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COPYRIGHT 2000 Gale Group”
Anyone who has lived in Mombasa for more than a few weeks knows there is a direct connection between the shipping news that is often ignored by 80%of the population and increased commercial sex activity in this ancient coastal city. Kenyan hookers follow avidly the comings and goings of ships into Mombasa. Who knows when literally a shipload of randy sailors and or horny marines will step ashore looking for French kisses, Greek jobs, blow jobs, group sex and plain old missionary positions in return for francs, dollars, pounds or Kenyan shillings?
But as with other communities plagued with a foreign military presence, Mombasa has been bedeviled with notorious cases where the murders of Kenyan female sex workers by their American marine clients go unpunished. I was fifteen years old when Sundstrom, the farm boy from the American Mid West who joined the Marines was released on a “peace bond” of five hundred shillings after robbing and slaughtering a Kenyan woman he had picked up for commercial sex. A few years later Monica Njeri’s tragic fate was to inspire a young Kenyan to write a novel:
www.jour.city.ac.uk/cityzine/Art_Kimani.html Kenyans abroad have lately woken up to the fact prostitution by Kenyan nationals is alive and well in the Diaspora as well- whether you are talking about Houston, Boston, London, Toronto or Stockholm. There are Kenyan porn videos circulating in the United States and Kenyan strippers doing brisk business in southern Ontario. Apparently, one Kenyan woman has even taken the bold step of jumping into the brave new and lucrative world of cybersex with the launch of her Mighty Africa.Com. I have visited the site and to tout her patriotic Kenyan credentials, you see the up and coming Kenyan Internet Porn Queen/Entrepreneur posing “thiringinyi’ (Luo for buck naked) on a Kenyan flag!!?!
Given what I have said above, I am sure one or two readers will understand why I have not being among the most over-excited commentators on the Koinange Street expose.
In any case, as a Marxist-Leninist, I always marvel at the sexual hypocrisy of the Kenyan petit-bourgeoisie.
Here they are, boinking each other right, left and centre all day, all night and throughout the weekend while clicking their tongues tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk….
To which I want to respond with my own counter tsk tsk tsks.
Listen to what Marx and Engels had to say about the subject of prostitution way back in the late 1840s:
"
For the rest, nothing is more ridiculous than the virtuous indignation of our bourgeois at the community of women which, they pretend, is to be openly and officially established by the Communists. The Communists have no need to introduce free love; it has existed almost from time immemorial.
"Our bourgeois, not content with having wives and daughters of their proletarians at their disposal, not to speak of common prostitutes, take the greatest pleasure in seducing each other's wives.
Bourgeois marriage is, in reality, a system of wives in common and thus, at the most, what the Communists might possibly be reproached with is that they desire to introduce, in substitution for a hypocritically concealed, an openly legalized system of free love. For the rest, it is self-evident that the abolition of the present system of production must bring with it the abolition of free love springing from that system, i.e., of prostitution both public and private.“
(Marx and Engels, ‘The Manifesto of the Communist Party’ 1848 Fascinating as this subject of ukahaba is, strangely enough, this is not what I want to focus on for the rest of the essay.
I want to explore something else.
And this too, has been triggered by another appalling story that grabbed the headlines and ignited our collective rage recently. This has to do with the brutal assault perpetrated against an innocent, defenceless FOUR YEAR OLD Kenyan CHILD. The brute (or “animal” as the Standard dubbed him) confessed as was quickly sent to life imprisonment. Kenyan inmates, like their counterparts in other parts of the world, are unforgiving when it comes to sexual offenders. This is a crime which even the most hardened robber often views with undisguised disgust, not understanding why someone would commit such a heinous crime. When it is a child victim who is involved, as in the present case, the likelihood of that convict completing their prison term alive is very uncertain, to put it mildly.
But once again, I was disappointed that we as Kenyans did not go much further than our gut reaction.
What happened to that child, unfortunately, ladies and gentlemen, WAS NOT an aberration.
I will detail why in a second.
Like I said, I too was deeply disturbed at what happened to that little child and I shared the sense of revulsion at that twisted individual who committed that crime.
However, one has to understand this crime in context. It is systemic.
Sexual exploitation is part and parcel of our political economy, our legacy of colonialism and neocolonialism. Studies in South East Asia have made a direct correlation between sexual exploitation and the social systems that prevail there.
So, without taking anything away from the horrific spectacle that we all recoiled from recently, I want to now invite you to wade together with me through a very weighty document from the United Nations.
People never know where I am going with my essays, ama?
Patience, my friends.
Before I take the next three steps forward I want you to click on the link below and scroll down to the part where they talk of child prostitution in Kenya:
www.campaignforeducation.org/globalmarchreport/kenya.html Grim stuff huh?
Well, I am afraid that the document we are about to examine is even more grim- absolutely stomach churning so again, if you are squeamish and can not deal with very harrowing descriptions, please say goodbye to this essay right about now.
Ms Ofelia Calcetas- Santos visited Kenya over five years ago. From the 25th of September to August 1st to be exact. She was visiting our country in her capacity as a Special Rapporteur for the United Nations Commission on Human Rights. Her specific mission: to look into the issue of the commercial sexual exploitation of children in Kenya. Her report was # 20 on the provisional agenda of the 54th session of the UN Commission on Human Rights and was released for distribution on January 8, 1998.
The Kenyan part is actually an addendum to her main report. You can access the entire document by going to:
www.hri.ca/fortherecord1998/documentation/commission/e-cn4-1998-101-add1.htm Ready?
Let us look at some key parts of the report. Once again, this is heavy stuff so reader discretion is advised.
First here is a profile of the perpetrators:
Can you believe that part which talks of “adults who falsely believe that children are safer from HIV/AIDS infection“?
This observation is underscored in an earlier part of the report:
“One particularly disturbing trend related to the increase in persons living with HIV/AIDS in Kenya, is the mistaken belief by many that having sex with young children would reduce the possibilities of HIV-infection. This results in the so-called "spiral effect", which manifests itself in progressively younger children being used for purposes of commercial sexual exploitation. Another equally dangerous conception is that having sex with an infant cures a person affected by HIV/AIDS. In some of her discussions, the Special Rapporteur was informed that there had been cases reported in which infants under 1 year old had been raped or sodomized due to such false beliefs. These incidents only highlight the priority attention that should be accorded to HIV/AIDS education at all levels of society.”Then we look at the characteristics of the sexual exploitation of children in Kenya:
B. Characteristics
1. Commercial sexual exploitation of children in Kenya, a developing country with rapid population growth and continuing economic and social changes, is a phenomenon shrouded in relative secrecy, conditioning the strategies to eradicate and prevent the problem. The lack of a sound legal basis in Kenyan national legislation further compounds the problem. This important issue is discussed at length in the next chapter.
2. Under-reporting is another major characteristic of commercial sexual exploitation of children in Kenya and seems largely due to non-existent or ineffective response mechanisms to provide support, protection and assistance to victims. An important aspect of prevention would be to educate the public to detect signs of potential or existing sexual exploitation of children, to its consequences, to its prevalence, legal implications and types of sexual abuse. Under-reporting causes the notable lack of any specific data so that an objective assessment of the phenomenon cannot be undertaken. This is a very serious concern of the Special Rapporteur since no effective and appropriate nationwide strategies to combat and prevent the problem can be developed without knowing its real extent.
1. Although during her visit the Special Rapporteur was not able to evaluate the extent of the problem, she was informed that there is no doubt that commercial sexual exploitation of children was escalating at great speed and that immediate intervention, as well as long-term preventative strategies must be undertaken.
• The age of child victims of commercial sexual exploitation in Kenya is estimated to range from 9 to 17 years, with the majority of children affected between 13 to 17 years. School girls, young girls who have migrated from rural communities, especially those who work as unskilled domestic helpers, school boys who need money for school fees, "second-generation" prostitutes, beach boys and school drop-outs are all categories of children who fall victim to commercial sexual exploitation. (3)
• It was interesting for the Special Rapporteur to note that some contend that the sectors of society most affected by the dangers of commercial sexual exploitation of children are non-Nomadic and economically and socially more advanced families. Their higher consumption needs and increased demand for goods, which often leads them to urban centres in search for more gainful employment, frequently result in the family not being able to sustain itself. Consequently, and as already mentioned above, family structures are broken down and difficulties within the household lead to the neglect of children. In particular, the Central and Western provinces, the North-East and Eastern areas of Kenya, as well as the Coastal Provinces, are said to be most affected by social transformation. Such phenomena are less observed within more traditional, Nomadic African groups where the extended family still provides a solid support network for children.
• The main "modes of operation" by which commercial sexual exploitation takes place in Kenya are through pimps, madams and middlemen, parents or other family members, in brothels and massage parlours, in the streets, in nightclubs, bars and in discotheques. Runaway or "throwaway" children or school drop-outs and other children living in the streets are frequently engaged in "sex for survival", that is to say they are forced to turn to prostitution for their survival and engage in individual prostitution, "operating" without pimps or madams. The Special Rapporteur was also informed of the existence of commercial sexual exploitation of children, through loosely organized networks, in rich, private houses known as "Mbwa kali", which refers to the "Beware of fierce dog" signs posted outside the gates. It is suspected that in many private houses illegal activities involving children are taking place but access by law enforcement officials on mere grounds of suspicion is not allowed and police are wary to enter. Therefore, any activities inside "Mbwa kali" houses, mainly owned by rich Kenyans, expatriates and foreigners, are very difficult to control.
• From testimonies of child victims of prostitution, the Special Rapporteur was informed that the price for sexual services for children varies vastly from K Sh 20.00 which a 9-year old street girl received for letting older men sodomize her, up to K Sh 500.00 for sex with a 17-year old girl working in a bar. Karen, 15, told of being raped by a man in the street who then offered her K Sh 100.00 for the second time. This is how she entered prostitution.
• In Nairobi, specific nightclubs are known to provide adult prostitutes for clients but the prostitution of minors in such establishment is more difficult to detect since it is largely carried out "behind the scenes" and through contacts only. At the same time, some street workers have identified certain clubs where children in prostitution are known to operate from. In the streets, Koinange Street and Kenyatta Avenue are places where children, predominantly girls, apparently as young as 7 to 9 years old, can be found offering sexual services. Many of the children working in the streets are accompanied by their mothers or older siblings who also engage in prostitution. Another characteristic appears to be that most brothels are managed by female pimps or madams and that the majority of recruiters are also women.
• In Mombasa and Malindi, and in other coastal tourist areas, the attention of the Special Rapporteur was drawn to children who offer sexual services along the beaches, mainly so-called "beach boys" and in small bed and breakfasts where maids or other domestic workers are offered for sexual services by owners and managers. Local authorities pointed out that since the Government is becoming increasingly aware of the extent of the phenomenon, beaches are now starting to be monitored and surveillance is being carried out around bars and massage parlours where prostitution takes place in popular tourist areas.
• During her mission, the Special Rapporteur noted that information on the use of children in the production of child pornography was scarce and difficult to obtain. It appeared, however, that such productions were concentrated in populated and/or tourist areas, such as in Nairobi, Mombasa, Malindi and Watamu. It was contended that any child pornography material that is available comes into Kenya from abroad and that production within Kenya is unknown. The Government, through the Film Licensing Board, censors all types of films that come to the country, but the Special Rapporteur would like to caution that the private nature of distribution and viewing of materials makes such censorship difficult. The increased access to computer based information networks has led to an increase in child pornography, with appropriate legislative remedies increasingly difficult to implement. Relevant strategies to combat such problems must be considered even if the phenomenon is not rampant or not recognized as common in Kenya.
• It was also reported that children are being trafficked internally from rural to urban areas by intermediaries, or at times, by loosely organized crime networks, for the purpose of prostitution. Many trafficked children originate from impoverished and remote rural areas where they and their family may not grasp the true nature of the risk and consequences involved in accepting the help of a mediator, "family friend", "boyfriend" or "future husband" for finding allegedly "domestic" work in urban centres. Once the children find themselves in unfamiliar areas, without their families, they become dependent on the mediator and are easily controlled and manipulated. As in other countries, the victims themselves or their families are deceived by false promises of obtaining house or bar work and, therefore, "voluntarily" go with the intermediaries. Similarly there are cases of children being trafficked into Kenya.
1. Another characteristic of commercial sexual exploitation in Kenya is that apparently refugee children, originating mainly from the Sudan and Somalia and often marginalized in Kenyan society, are particularly vulnerable to exploitation and abuse.”
Next, there was a case study conducted at the Kenyan coast:
“V. A CASE STUDY OF THE COAST PROVINCE: MOMBASA AND MALINDI 1. The coastal area of Kenya, including urban centres such as Mombasa and Malindi, possesses a cultural, ethnic and geographic richness and diversity which also lends the phenomenon of commercial sexual exploitation of children particular characteristics, different from Nairobi. The Special Rapporteur also chose to visit the coastal area in order to study the impact of tourism on commercial sexual exploitation of children and to identify possible measures to prevent any further exploitation.
1. Children from all parts of the country converge in the coastal area, especially in Mombasa and Malindi, hoping to earn a living from the influx of foreigners. Here the children are rendered doubly vulnerable since, on one hand, they are subjected to sexual exploitation by some tourists but, on the other hand, they are subject to violence and harsh treatment by police officers who are ordered to "clean" the streets for the tourists. Yet it was emphasized that tourism is not the primary reason for children to enter into commercial sexual exploitation and other ventures to assure their survival but that once they are in the streets, having left home for the many reasons described earlier, the tourist industry becomes a major attraction. According to the Mombasa Coast and Tourist Association, only 1 per cent of tourism in the coastal area is oriented for sex.
• According to the Mombasa Coast and Tourist Association, out of 827,000 international tourists visiting Kenya per year, approximately 70 per cent travel to Mombasa and the majority of arrivals are families, honeymooners or pensioners, with only a small percentage of individuals traveling alone. In the face of these statistics, it could be deduced that the tourist industry in the coastal area of Kenya is not primarily sex-oriented. Nevertheless, in view of the large number of street children and curio vendors, the potential for increased commercial sexual exploitation of children must be recognized and preventative strategies put into place without delay.
• In fact, the Special Rapporteur was pleased to note a high degree of awareness of potential dangers in discussions with the Chairman of the Mombasa Coast and Tourist Association (MCTA). The MCTA has carried out awareness-raising campaigns concerning the rights and protection of children with hoteliers, tour operators and caterers and has asked them to report to the Association any detection of minors in their establishments. At the prompting of the Special Rapporteur, the Chairman, in cooperation with the Ministry of Tourism, was going to address a circular letter to all tourism managers in the region to remind them of their obligation to monitor that no minors under 18 be allowed in their establishments. The MCTA has also requested the Government to provide land for building a regulated "beach boys market" in order to control better the type of merchandise sold and activities undertaken by beach boys, the building of which would be funded by the MCTA. Generally, the MCTA also expressed its willingness to cooperate with the Children's Services Department and their officers in any future initiatives to eliminate commercial sexual exploitation of children.
• In most discussions, it was mentioned that homosexual prostitution and the use of boys in commercial sexual exploitation of children was not traditionally practiced in Kenya but that foreign influences through tourists have given rise to this phenomenon. In particular young boys who sell curios on the beaches in tourist areas, so-called "beach boys", are mostly targeted by pedophiles and male tourists looking to buy sexual services. To address this growing concern, the Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife established a Kenya Beach Management Programme. Under this programme, the beach boys are organized into a "Beach Operators Association", with about 6,000 members. It coordinates the selling of curios but at the same time seeks to prevent the curio vendors from being used as contact points by tourists for either drugs or sexual services by children. The Association also represents its members in negotiations with provincial authorities and the Mombasa Coast and Tourist Association.
• It was also mentioned that tourists who come to Kenya on package tours and stay in cheaper hotels have more opportunities to enter into closer contact with locals and, therefore, attract local commercial sex workers and nomadic street children who move from one tourist area to another searching for ways to survive.
• Malindi has certain characteristics not in common with the other coastal areas like Mombasa and Lamu. Malindi has a visibly large Italian community. Italian-owned hotels, restaurants, bars and nightclubs proliferate in Malindi. Thus, many Italian tour operators and tourists are attracted to the area. The expatriate community consequently has very close contacts to both local Kenyans, as well as to the tourists, and it has been reported that such contacts are also used for providing children for sexual services to tourists. Furthermore, in view of the higher number of young, single tourists that travel to Malindi, demand for sex services also appears greater.
• Another characteristic of commercial sexual exploitation of children in Malindi, were female domestic helpers who worked in "guest cottages" mostly owned by expatriates but managed by local caretakers. It was reported that the caretakers at times photographed the domestic workers and sent their photos to guests abroad so that they could "select their girl" before arrival. Another incentive provided for the domestic helpers to engage in other services than housework is the approximately monthly salary of K Sh 4,000 to 5,000/month that they are sometimes offered. In comparison, a local lower-level government official would earn approximately K Sh 3,000/month. The Special Rapporteur was also informed of "hostels" for girls, situated around Malindi, which provide an ideal setting for sexual exploitation of girls and which should be carefully monitored.
• Also in the coastal area, in Malindi and Mombasa it was reported that organizers of traditional dances for tourist entertainment used children and school drop-outs in their shows and that tourists often requested the services of performers after the dances for sexual purposes. The Children's Department in Nairobi was of the opinion, however, that such exploitation had been detected and a stop put to it.
1. The Special Rapporteur was also informed that a large number of the coastal population or "Mijikenda" are Muslim communities, like in Lamu, which are very closed and difficult to reach. Both children's officers and non-governmental organizations stated that whilst in these communities no commercial sexual exploitation of children has been observed, it appears that the rate of child abuse and exploitation within families is high. In particular, young boys are more exposed to the danger of sexual abuse by homosexual members of the community, especially since the girls within Muslim families are strictly protected.
• The International Programme for the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) of the ILO has implemented a programme in Malindi which addressed mainly children who work in factories in the region. At the same time, a new programme has been proposed under which recreational centres with counseling facilities and information would be established for children victims of exploitation, sexual and otherwise. The programme aims to enable children in prostitution to get vocational training for alternative sources of income. Other options which could be offered to children in need of rehabilitation and their families would be empowerment training and a credit-lending facility for parents to encourage income-generating activities. The Special Rapporteur considers this an excellent project proposal and encourages its implementation without delay.”
Of course it is better for my readers to read the UN report from start to finish.
The bigger question for me is what do we, as Kenyans do with all of this? Recently we harnessed our collective outrage at that child molester who is now languishing, in probably in a Kamiti solitary cell in the segregated wing of the punishment block (E).
But how about the perpetrators out there?
How many of them are cabinet ministers and members of parliament? How many of them are visiting World Bank and IMF officials? How many of them are expatriates working for multinational firms? How many of them are directors of foreign NGOs? How many of them are police officers? How many of them are doctors? How many of them are lawyers? How many of them are newspaper editors and television producers? How many of them are bishops, pastors and priests? How many of them are sex tourists from Italy, Canada, Germany, Japan, Austria, Switzerland and I do not know where else?
If any of these are among the perpetrators, who is going after them?
And I stayed in Kamiti long enough to see a wide range of sexual offenders swung in to know that my list above is not arbitrary. Indeed as I write these lines I am just from stealing a glance at the December 18th newspapers trumpeting the alliance between Ford-People and KANU and because I was in the middle of writing this very essay, I literally choked and almost vomited when I saw a picture of Julius Sunkuli, the KANU SG and former powerful cabinet minister. Wasn’t this the guy who was accused of grabbing his teenage underage relative and raping her until she conceived a child for him? And there he was, walking scot free up and down the streets of Nairobi posing for pictures while his victim suffers in humiliation with a child she had not planned on having.
Is Sunkuli the only child molester who is also a high profile Kenyan politician? I doubt it very much. Many of these male MPs have housemaids who are eleven to seventeen and I can safely guess that it is very likely that at least a fraction of the two hundred and something MPs have sexually abused their house help.
We know that on this issue, we are not just talking about crime and punishment. We are talking prevention and counseling; rehabilitation and a whole lot more.
But at least we can start by taking another look at the existing laws. Are they adequate? If so, how seriously are these laws being implemented? If not, what can be done?
How about the socio-economic conditions that leave innocent children open to sexual exploitation?
Today I am not going to offer any solutions.
Right now I am just thinking as a father, an uncle, a cousin, a nephew, yes, as someone who has children in my life and what I would do if I ever had to deal with the unthinkable misfortune of confronting any of the things I have detailed in this paper up close and personal.
That thought alone is enough for me to pause at my keyboard and say that is it.
I cannot write anymore.
Onyango Oloo
Montreal
Wednesday, December 17, 2003[/quote]
