This archive report was first published on 22 August 2020.
March 5, 2008, is a day J will never forget. She had been promised a well-paying job in India as a housekeeper by her cousin, but what awaited her was a brothel and a life of sex work. The United Nations intervened, bringing her back to Kenya after being alerted to the human trafficking route.
"When I heard there were job vacancies in India, I was so happy," J recalled, her voice trembling with emotion. However, her happiness was short-lived as she was forced into sex work to pay off $9,000 her traffickers claimed she owed them for her travel and lodging.
According to the International Organization of Migration (IOM), 12 Kenyan women were repatriated from India in the past year, marking the first time the organization had been asked to help Kenyans in the country. Most Kenyans who have been trafficked end up in the Middle East, particularly Saudi Arabia, as per the Kenya's National Crime Research Center.
With the economic fallout of the coronavirus lockdown in East Africa, the IOM fears that people will become more vulnerable to exploitation. A July survey by Nairobi-based market research firm Tifa Research revealed that nearly a third of low-income Nairobi residents lost their jobs in the past month, while another 15% who were self-employed are without work.
"With the economic losses that we are experiencing as a result of the pandemic, we are potentially going to see more cases (of people) being trafficked or re-trafficked," said Sharon Dimanche, head of the IOM in Kenya.
J's experience serves as a stark reminder for Kenyans to be cautious of job offers abroad. "I never thought I would get back to my kids," she said, her voice filled with emotion. "When they took me to the embassy, I could not believe I am going to see family again and not return in a coffin."
