The rise in family discourse and HIV in Naivasha has been blamed on the sex-for-fish culture among fish traders in Naivasha.
Naivasha sub-county commissioner Abraham Kemboi said that majority of female fish traders are single not because they chose to be, but because their husbands left them upon finding they were engaging in the sex for fish culture.
Speaking Friday in an event where Kemboi gave out condoms to boat operators ahead of valentine’s day, he said that majority of fish traders who are mostly women were not only single but were also living with the HIV virus.
“The culture of exchanging sex for fish is a common thing here at the lake and it is a real threat to the existence of the family unit because most families are breaking up, or parents are dying of AIDS and leaving behind children. The spread of HIV is high because the fishermen sleep with multiple women and mostly without protection, and the same women will tomorrow sleep with a different man not forgetting that they will go home and sleep with their husbands and that is how people are dying,” said Kemboi.
He called on fish traders to guard their dignity by shunning away from fishermen who ask for sex in exchange for fish.
Lake Naivasha fishermen and boat operators chairman David Kilo, said that they have put measures in place to ensure that no female fish trader falls victim to the sex pests of the area.
“As much as we are trying to fight this culture it is also important for all women at the lake to stand up and do what is right, they should stop falling into the traps of these hungry men because they have the ability to do so,” said Kilo.