NAIROBI, Kenya, Jun 18 – The Kenya Sex Worker’s Alliance (KESWA) has released a detailed report documenting human rights violations experienced by sex workers and barriers they face in accessing health services in Kenya.
The research which was funded by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) was conducted on behalf of Oxfam GB by the African Sex Workers Alliance and interviewed 136 participants between the ages of 18 and 36 on average.
The report showed two thirds of Kenyan participants beginning sex work before the age of 18, with most female sex workers working in bars and clubs which made them more susceptible to police harassment.
UNDP consultant Paul Boyce said the main objective of the research was to find out mechanisms to lessen stigma that surrounds sex workers and how to provide them with proper health services.
“One of the core findings of the research is to dampen the idea of sex work being risky because for many sex workers, sex work is also a place where they find protection, safety and support, and I think we really need to take much stronger account of that in our HIV prevention work,” he said.
The report cited sexual violence, physical beatings, arbitrary arrest and extortion or bribery as the most common human rights violations against sex workers usually perpetrated by clients, police, pimps or regular partners.
Sex work criminalization, was the main reason most participants in the report said they faced obstacles in accessing health care; such as poor treatment from health providers, frequently having to pay additional money for services.
Most participants acknowledged that majority of their health needs were primarily occupation related, requiring diagnosis and treatment for Sexually Transmitted Infections.
KESWA member Dorothy Ogutu said the fact that some of the research conductors were sex workers the process was more effective in getting in-depth information from participants.
“What makes this research quite unique is that we are men and women who have been in the sex work industry and it is much easier to approach the sex workers because they identify with us,” she said.
Ms Ogutu added that past efforts in studying the sex work industry have resulted in inclusive reports, often leaving gaps and not addressing some groups like male and transgender sex workers.
“Research has always been done on sex workers, but they never know what the findings are. They are never informed and programs are implemented that do not go to benefiting them [sex workers]. In African context we don’t want to talk about male or transgender sex workers, so we identified these key gap areas that other institutions have not been able to touch on,” she argued.
KESWA says it hopes the report will create more awareness on the need of legislative reform and the application of a rights-based approach to public health interventions for sex workers in Kenya.
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