Lobby draws attention to 'sex for water' trend in Nairobi informal settlements

It is already difficult being a young girl or boy living in low-income areas in the country and for places that are under-served or un-served, it can get worse for these young people.

In Nairobi’s informal settlements of Kibera and Mukuru Kwa Reuben, there are sinister forces prying on innocent young girls.

A lobby has raised alarm about unscrupulous water vendors who are exploiting young girls in Kibera and Kwa Reuben in order to give them water.

According to personal accounts by young adolescent girls from these areas made to various Community-Based Organisations (CBOs), the situation is rife and real.

Vincent Ouma, the head of programs at The Kenya Water and Sanitation Civil Society Network (KEWASNET), said that sexploitation (sex exploitation) has been going on for a long time now but in secret.

“We have been talking about this for quite some time but when you talk about this to people, especially big people in the water sector, they all deny it. They do not believe that anybody is being exploited to get water,” he said.

Ouma was speaking at the launch of a booklet narrating experiences of women and girls who are victims of these water cartels on Thursday at the Shifteye Studios in Nairobi.

He said that nobody was buying the story that such things were happening in Kenya, much less Nairobi terming it a shameful thing.

“This is not just something we woke up and found out. It took us over two years to collect these women and girls’ stories."

Mercy* (not her real name), a 14-year old girl, narrated in the booklet how she came across sexploitation in her Kibera area.

“There was a time we had a serious water shortage and people had to wake up early and go queue to fetch water. My friend kept insisting she had a way to get water quickly but never told me how until I saw her come out of the vendor’s house with the water keys,” she said.

Mercy said her friend got pregnant and now stays with the vendor.

Jane*, 15, was offered water for free by a vendor and she fetched water a few times before the vendor asked to be paid back in form of sex.

“I refused and it was then that the vendor became furious with me and even threatened me several times,” she said.

Wangui* said that she felt it was alright to get that free water so long as it was not on a daily basis.

“That way, I can save some more money to enable me to buy diapers or fruits for my child,” she said.

The women and girls’ desperation to access water, sanitation, and hygiene facilities in their low-income communities left them at the mercy of perpetrators.

In areas like Kibera and Kwa Reuben, washrooms are located outside houses, sometimes a distance away from one's house so it can be unsafe for girls and women to access at any given time of the day.

Alice*, 16, was harassed by a stranger while she was on her way to take a shower.

“Our washrooms are directly opposite the house, with a small pathway between them. While I was crossing over towards our house wrapped in a kanga, an unknown stranger pulled it off and walked away," she said.

Linda*, a mother of four, noticed that a male character was always peeping at her while showering from a neighbouring building.

“I am afraid of the man because my 14-year old daughter also uses the same bathroom,” she said.

Sometimes residents have to pay to use the bathroom in their community and Jedidah*, 14, found herself at the mercy of a caretaker when she was short of five shillings.

“He asked me if I could let him taste so I could have access to the toilet which I refused. He then sent me away with insults. I now have to walk long distances to access the next sanitation facility.”

Sareen Malik of KEWASNET said that they came up with the Sex For Water project in order to promote safe spaces for women and girls in the informal settlements.

She said CBOs like Polycom Development Project, Inua Dada, and Umande Trust helped in the collection and compilation of the girls’ narratives as well as providing them with psycho-social support.

The greatest challenge to catching perpetrators of these acts is a lack of a law against sextortion.

“The only place we have a law against sextortion is in the Employment Act but everywhere else, it is silent. Extortion is criminalised by law but sextortion has not been recognised yet,” she said.

She said that would be the beginning of ending sextortion because now, there is no basis in the law to warrant prosecution of the perpetrators.

Ouma called for improved water and sanitation service provision within the informal settlements in order to prevent women and girls from being at risk of experiencing any form of violence.

“Once we make it safe for women and girls in the community to access these services, then we will be a step closer to ending the trade of sex for water.”

*Names used are not the victims' real names*

Edited by B.Oruta