This archive report was first published on 21 December 2019.
Kenya's coastal areas, particularly Diani, have become a hub for child sex tourism, with thousands of underage girls involved in commercial sex work.
According to data from various state and non-state agencies, at least 12,000 underage girls in the country are engaged in this vice, with more than half of them operating in the coastal areas.
A UNICEF study, The Extent and Effect of Sex Tourism and Sexual Exploitation of Children on the Kenyan Coast, found that up to 30 per cent of all 12 to 18-year-olds living in the coastal areas of Malindi, Mombasa, Kilifi, and Diani are involved in casual sex work.
As a result, it is estimated that 10,000 to 15,000 girls living in these areas are being sexually exploited in tourism at irregular intervals or seasonally.
A further 2,000 to 3,000 girls and boys are sexually exploited year-round by sex tourists in these same areas.
Magdalene Wanza, Country Manager for Terres des Hommes Netherlands, a non-governmental organisation working to end child exploitation, notes that other actors involved in child sex tourism include individuals well known to and trusted by children, including police officers, teachers, lecturers, clergy, doctors, watchmen, and relatives.
A 2015 study by Terres des Hommes Netherlands found that poverty, peer pressure, and lack of parental guidance or negligence are among the factors that drive children into prostitution.
The study also found that 40.8 per cent of the surveyed children in Kwale were involved in sexual exploitation.
Victims report that they mainly engage in the trade to supplement family income, while they are also driven by the will to be self-reliant and claim to be forced by conditions at home.
The UNICEF study indicated that Kenyan tourists form 39 per cent of the client base of exploited children, with tourists from Italy, Germany, and Switzerland being among the top nationalities involved in child sex tourism in Kenya.
According to the Institute for Security Studies, most tourists involved in child sex tourism in Kenya are between 45 and 65 years old, either divorced or seeking to rekindle their sexual lives by having sex with teenagers, who are perceived to be free from HIV and other diseases.
Halimu Shauri, a Pwani University lecturer and Dean of the School of Sociology, notes that child marriage still occurs in some local ethnic groups along the Kenyan coastline, leading to girls being married when they are babies and then ending up on the streets.
Joyce Wanjiku, chairperson for the National Council for Children’s Services, adds that the lack of education amongst girls is another leading cause of child prostitution, as female education is not encouraged and most girls get married at a very tender age.
Out of The Shadows, a study by the Economist Intelligence Unit, found that there was relatively low engagement by the travel and tourism sector in Kenya to prevent the sexual exploitation of children.
Magdalene Wanza believes that the fight against sexual exploitation of children can be won if all actors are on board, saying, “We owe it to the children.”
