This archive report was first published on 12 July 2019.
Published on July 12, 2019, sex workers in Chuka town have been subjected to brutal treatment by their customers, prompting them to demand protection and support to start alternative businesses.
According to the sex workers, two of their colleagues were killed and several others seriously injured in the last two months by men who pretended to be genuine customers only to turn against them after sleeping with them.
The sex workers, led by their chairlady Betty Mukami, have formed a group dubbed '#OkoleaKahabanaMtoto' to fight for their security and lobby the government and well-wishers to help them start other businesses that do not pose a risk to their lives and health.
Ms. Mukami stated that whenever they report to the police, they are dismissed as prostitutes and no action is ever taken.
She recalled the case of one of their colleagues who was electrocuted and another who was raped and killed, with the police only taking the bodies to the Chuka County Referral Hospital mortuary.
Ms. Mukami also highlighted the issue of bodaboda and matatu operators who pick them up at their respective points and take them to their rooms without paying them.
She added that most of the sex workers found themselves in the business after their parents died or they were chased from their homes.
One of the sex workers, Irene Muthoni, 60, shared her story of how she started working as a sex worker in Moi Girls slum in 1994 after being chased away by her relatives when she was diagnosed with HIV.
Ms. Muthoni stated that her daughter, who is mentally challenged, relies on her for school fees and feeding, and she is ready to change to another work because men have become animals.
Another sex worker, Catherine Hawa, shared her experience of being arrested by police conducting patrols in the town and taken to the police station, only for one of the officers to force her to his room and sleep with her.
Ms. Hawa stated that she had to go away because if she insisted on payment, the officer could accuse her of selling bhang.
The sex workers have urged the county woman representative, Beatrice Nkatha, to consider funding their group using the National Government Affirmative Action Fund (NGAAF) so that they could start other businesses.
Ms. Wanja Karuku, a pharmacist and matatu business lady in the town, promised to support them register the group and start other businesses such as a salon.
She stated that she has seen these women beaten up by men who sleep with them and decline paying, and she is ready to support them come out of this bad business.
