A director of a children’s home in Mavoko Sub-County has raised the red flag over the rise in child prostitution in the area.
Bondeni Children Rescue Centre director Florence Gitau said the number of girls who loiter the streets in Mlolongo, Athi River and Kitengela during odd hours to engage in the illicit trade was embarrassing.
She attributed the vice to irresponsible parents and guardians arguing that some of the children have able parents or guardians who they can look up to for support but still go out to the streets.
"It is my feeling that parents who have girls in Mavoko should work hard to ensure that their children are provided with basic needs to prevent them from engaging in prostitution," Gitau told journalists at the centre on Saturday.
Gitau said apart from the fact that such irresponsible parents make their children drop out of school at such tender ages, they also expose them to sexually transmitted infections including HIV/Aids.
She called on parents to take their daughters' well-being with utmost importance in a bid to stem child prostitution in Mavoko and its environs.