Neglected by relatives, uneducated, unemployed and poor, Fatuma Grace not her real name joined prostitution aged 13.
In her mid-teen years, Grace was already popular in the streets of Sabasaba, Mankulifagia, Maendeleo and Bombolulu in Mombasa.
She could seduce rich men for the commercial sex trade.
Customers would fight for her in what they termed fresh and hot blood.
Grace, 34, currently lives in Ukunda where she hustles daily.
According to Teens Watch Rehabilitation Centre, the region has over 3,800 commercial sex workers.
Grace and others regret joining prostitution but it's a business they can’t stop engaging in.
Despite the many risks, Grace doesn’t see herself quitting anytime soon.
“It’s painful, I am ashamed. This is not the life I dreamt of. The earth is hard and very unfair,” Grace says amidst teary eyes.
“I won’t mind if people judge me, they can say what they want but I know I didn’t choose this.”
When Grace accidentally got pregnant then, she continued with the business to save enough for the unborn child.
Sarah Halima, 25, not her real name, joined prostitution almost the same age as Grace.
Halima said having no one to provide for her basic needs and school fees, she dropped out to join the commercial sex trade in Mtwapa.
“I had one option, sell my body. I never wanted this but I had to do it to earn a living,” she said.
Halima who comes from Western moved around the coastal beaches making new sex squads and became prominent.
She spent her teenage days sleeping with multiple men for money.
WHY PROSTITUTION
Grace lost her parents aged eight.
She doesn’t remember having good days in her life as the wheel of fortune spun against her.
Grace remembers when a generous man tried to help her but she was almost killed by the man’s wife. Other days were not different.
She several times unsuccessfully tried to commit suicide.
Grace was first raped by three boys aged 12, at Likoni in Mombasa.
She recovered after two months at the Coast Provincial General Hospital and was later discharged.
“I had nowhere to go but I met some friends who indirectly introduced me to prostitution,” she said.
Prostitution at the Coast is growing famous because of the booming tourism industry.
Young men and women have made the commercial sex trade a quick alternative source of making fortune.
It is alleged to be promoted by foreigners.
Walking along Diani Beach, ladies are getting ready for business.
Some of them are married but poverty forces them to go for alternatives.
Grace says since she left home, her relatives have not bothered to look for her. She, therefore, has to keep the business to fend for herself and her daughter who will join Form 1 next year.
For Halima life was good until her mum died while she was in Std 7.
Her jobless father remarried and life became unbearable
“She used to mistreat me, my dad had no say and I had to run to my grandmother,” she said.
In 2009, at age 13, she was impregnated by her boyfriend.
Halima went to live with her friends who grew tired of her.
After delivering she went to Mombasa in the company of unknown friends.
Her life would then change forever.
In Mombasa, she befriended a middle-aged woman who sold her to men to pay for rent.
The first time she was locked in a room and raped by three men before getting used to the dirty business.
A couple of years, she was an expert and could accommodate over 10 men per day earning above Sh10,000.
In 2017 she also shifted to Ukunda after business in Mtwapa went down.
Halima and Grace established more than 100 clients.
HOW THEY DO IT
Drugs are a common thing used by many prostitutes to harden up.
Grace and Halima had to be introduced to some drugs to gain courage.
They said seducing and sleeping with multiple men is the hardest part and requires a crooked mind and something to stimulate the body.
Some go for hard drugs like heroin, tobacco among others but the two use bhang and beers.
She said the worst part is when they have to convince old men who are almost their father’s age to sleep with them.
Halima says old people are gentle and pay handsomely compared to the youth.
However, they serve anyone regardless of age but payment varies depending on how the clients present themselves.
The prostitutes also have boyfriends commonly known as Kafry.
They trust them and have sex without protection.
“We have a few special people who don’t use condoms,” Grace said.
CHALLENGES
Being minor and desperate for money most clients took advantage of the two in the beginning.
The first night, Grace was assaulted and denied payment.
“The day I started prostitution in Saba Saba, I was beaten and left with nothing,” she said.
Halima was also beaten and framed for theft by a foreign client in one of the Ukunda lodges after failing to agree on the type of sex services.
Most people, mistreat sex workers because they are reluctant to seek justice for feeling ashamed of what people may think of them.
Sometimes, they are forced not to use protection by clients risking contracting sexually transmitted diseases.
Grace has more than four times contracted Gonorrhea and other common STD infections.
They are frequently arrested for lacking business permits and face harassment from either security officers or the public.
Halima says some officers have been threatening to arrest them if not given free sex.
Teens Watch project officer Chepkirui Kemei Joan said seven harassment cases involving law enforces and prostitutes were reported last month and they are ongoing in court.
Others are gender-based violence between clients and sex workers.
The Covid-19 pandemic has become a major blow to the sector.
With banned night discos, clubs and curfew hours the sex workers have less to reap as they are forced to comply with the Covid regulations unlike before when the business boomed 24 hours.
ASSISTANCE
Joan said at least 2796 Kwale female sex workers have been successfully recruited for rehabilitation and empowerment programs.
Halima and Grace are among the recruits.
Joan said the FSW clients are trained on the harm reduction part and assisted to recover from prostitution.
“We educate and encourage them to engage in safe sex if they can’t stop abruptly,” she said.
The organization conducts full-body screening and tests for HIV, cervical cancer, TB and other STDs for the FSW before and after recruitment.
Joan said 108 of the total clients are HIV/AIDs positive.
She said with the condom education and antiviral drugs program they tend to minimize sexually transmitted diseases for both FSW and their clients.
The sex workers are provided with pre and post-exposure prophylaxis pills to prevent themselves from HIV infections.
Joan said those who tested positive are taken through treatment and provided with medication to suppress the virus and reduce the viral load.
Joan said the clients are frequently taken through psychosocial counselling because many suffer from drug addiction and mental stress due to stigmatisation.
The officer said the clients are introduced to Femi-planning to avoid unwanted pregnancy because some would prefer to continue pleasing customers by avoiding condoms.
Since the program started, a majority have managed to completely quit prostitution and lead a good life.
Joan said the project has an alternative livelihood program where they are trained in various job skills to enhance resilience.
They are taught how to make mats, bid, baskets and soap and the products are sold out to the market.
Some other successful graduates have been employed by the organization as peer educators to sensitize colleagues in the streets.
They currently have more than 39 peer educators who are former sex workers.
They are educated on table banking and encouraged to save.
This allows them to go for soft business loans in banks to improve their livelihoods and living standards.
Joan said the project also seeks to educate the prostitutes on their rights and how to defend themselves when harassed.
“Society perceives FSW as immoral beings thinking they don’t deserve fair treatment,” she said.
Joan said they have established gender based-violence desk and hired paralegal officers who can push for justice in courts in cases where sex workers’ rights are violated by either customers or the community.
Edited by Kiilu Damaris
