This archive report was first published on 28 October 2019.
Published on October 28, 2019, a disturbing trend has emerged in coastal Kenya where parents are pimping out their daughters to tourists to make ends meet.
Locals in the region are engaged in various financial survival strategies to cope with the harsh economic times. In some cases, parents have resorted to renting out their daughters and wives to randy tourists.
A 13-year-old girl from Mtwapa was introduced to a 65-year-old white man for sex by her father, who aimed to raise school fees. The girl recalled, “It all began after I had been sent away from school over fees. Two months later, my father, a hotelier, had not raised fees. Together with my grandmother they introduced me to a white man, claiming it was the only way I would raise school fees.”
The white man was a friend of the father's, whom he knew from frequenting the hotel where he worked. The relationship lasted for close to a year and ended after the girl finished school and secured a lowly job.
Another case involved a girl named Riziki, who was introduced to sex with tourists by her father. He helped her get a job selling ornaments to tourists at the beach and later introduced her to a tourist who wanted to have a good time with her. The father taught her Italian and German to easily communicate with clients and warned her never to reveal she was his daughter.
Such cases are common in Malindi, Kilifi, and Mtwapa, where underage girls are turned into sex objects. Local residents have expressed concern about the prevalence of sex pests in coastal cities, with some parents having no qualms about pimping out their daughters to make money.
A child activist, Alice Ngao, described the situation as a big problem, with Mtwapa being turned into a Sodom and Gomorrah of sorts. She noted that some older commercial sex workers introduce their teenage daughters into the business, making the problem even more complex.
Some men have even resorted to renting out their wives to tourists, with one case involving a man named Kimani who rented out his wife for weeks, masquerading as his sister. The proceeds were used to pay fees for their children, with Kimani and his wife making up to Sh40,000 in a good month.
