Emerging details have put hotel owners at the centre of the commercial sex industry in Kisumu, which is sadly now broadening to include underage school girls as sex workers.
Such is the case in among others, Kondele slums, where girls as young as 15 have been lured into the business either by brothel owners or older prostitutes, including relatives.
Most of the girls are from poor backgrounds, while others are school girls who engage in the business during the holiday and dropouts who have left school to focus on the job
Such is 15-year-old Josephine (not her real name), who narrated to the Standard how she dropped out of school while in form one last year after the death of her parents.
“It has not been easy. Sometimes, I charge as low as Sh50, especially on weekdays when clients are fewer,” the girl, who says that she was introduced into the job by her cousin, said.
She says that she charges between Sh300 and Sh500.
She is just one of the underage girls in the business, with the persons said to run the chain reportedly earning a commission on their earnings.
This poses the girls to the great danger of contracting HIV AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases.
Sadly, the majority of the clients also have a special preference for the young girls as compared to older prostitutes, as was revealed by one lodging owner.
Nyanza Regional Police Commander Vincent Makokha admitted being aware of the trend, saying that state and non-governmental units are working to stop the situation.
“We are tracking down those introducing minors to prostitution. Recently, we arrested three people in connection with child prostitution. They have already been charged in court. We are treating the cases as defilement. We have also enhanced our patrols,” said the police boss.