PAMLOMO-SAUTI YA JAMII

Sex tourism in Kenya: One girl’s story © UNICEF Kenya/2006/Rohio A recent UNICEF-backed report on the effect of sex tourism in Kenya finds that exploitation thrives because many in local communities look the other way. By Pamella Sittoni A new report conducted by UNICEF and the Government of Kenya finds that thousands of girls in coastal tourist areas are being exploited in the sex-for-cash industry. Here is one girl’s story. MOMBASA, Kenya, 20 December 2006 – “If my father knew that I do this, he would kill me,” says Annie (not her real name). “But he does not provide enough for me and my daughter, so I have to do this to make some extra cash.” Annie is from a lower middle-class family in Mtwapa, a coastal township near Mombasa. Kenya. She lives with her parents, who put food on the table and pay rent and other bills. As far as the family is concerned, Annie is an obedient child who is never out of the home beyond the 8 p.m. curfew set by her father. But what they do not...