Mary and Chiko always hoped to see the world. They were teenage girls, who came from poor families. Their parents struggled to send them to school. The boys went on for higher education but Mary and Chiko had to farm. One afternoon on their way home from the garden, a lorry stopped beside them, asking for directions. The driver was going to Nairobi and offered them a lift, so they could direct him in the maze of local roads.
He told them about Nairobi, city of skyscrapers, fast cars and smart people. The driver listened to their story. “You are bright. You should go to town with me now,” he said. “I will find you good jobs with lots of money.” Mary and Chiko agreed without hesitation. They travelled straight to Nairobi with the nice stranger.
Once they arrived at his house in Nairobi, there was a sudden change in driver’s behaviour. He demanded unprotected sex from Chiko and when she refused, he raped her. The next morning he told Mary to go and stay with his cousin. When she arrived there, she was made to work as a house girl. Mary was beaten up and abused on a daily basis but she continued working for the cousin without resistance. The city, noise, crowds of people, cars and matatus (public transport) scared Mary. She hardly understood the language being spoken in Nairobi. The Kiswahili she heard was different from the one they spoke at home and this made it a hurdle for her to seek help.
Chiko’s fate was different. The driver molested her sexually for a while but when he found a job in Uganda, he told her to move in with his colleague, a matatu driver who also raped Chiko, often bringing home his friends, who demanded that Chiko have sex with them as well. Soon she had contracted a sexually transmitted disease. Chased away, without any means to survive, Chiko was sheltered by a local sex worker. Pitying her, the new found friend introduced Chiko to the sex trade.
This is just one of hundreds similar scenarios. Stories about human trafficking in Kenya abound. They not only fail to describe human trafficking adequately, but they make it even more difficult to understand. We tend to believe that human trafficking happens somewhere “far far away,” with white men playing the role of traffickers, predators. But, the reality is just the opposite. There are many stories of people being trafficked in the towns and villages of Kenya, and worse, many are trafficked by friends, acquaintances, or even family members.
They are trafficked abroad or within the country, travelling by plane, or by matatu. They are promised lucrative employment and easy life, but end up being exploited as prostitutes or forced labour workers.
The media carries terrifying stories of men, women and children abused locally and sexual exploitation abroad, forced labour or organ donation. What can we do to stop the crime of human trafficking? It is not like any other crime, but is a serious threat to the future of Kenya and the entire African continent. Human trafficking damages people and, thus, destroys human resources which cannot be simply rebuilt by financial aid from western institutions.
A group of concerned persons decided to get together and form an organization called Awareness against Human Trafficking (HAART). The founding members of HAART include Catholic missionaries, human rights activists, non-Christian and Christian faiths together with good governance campaigners.
The aim of HAART is to eradicate, or at least, significantly, diminish the cases of human trafficking in Kenya. This may seem unachievable, and within range. Yet, how can they go about it? UN and other agencies believe the easiest way to eradicate human trafficking is to create awareness at every level that has been infiltrated by traffickers. In other words, make people at the grassroots aware of what human trafficking is, what it is not; what common tricks traffickers use; how to avoid being sold into slavery and what to do if they do fall into the hands of traffickers. All of these may sound like an enormous task, but since it can save people’s lives, it is worth taking the challenge.
More must be done in order to eradicate trafficking from Kenya. Scientific research is also a necessity. Ongoing formation about the nature of human trafficking needs to be constantly updated. Traffickers are fast learners, and always adopt new tricks, new routes and new ways of exploiting others. So, to keep up the pace, anti-human trafficking campaigners need to do the same.
Finally, helping the victims is crucial. HAART will start an assistance programme for victims of human trafficking in Kenya. It is the primary responsibility of every person to offer help to those whose dignity and human rights have been violated. Sadly, the victims’ health, often has been severely damaged, psychologically and physically. Solwodi (Solidarity with Women in Distress) in Mombasa, Kenya are already involved in these activities.
Recently, HAART organized its first, “Training of Trainers.” A group of 20 Kenyans representing all corners of Kenya were trained on how to organize awareness campaigns and on simple trafficking case collection. The volunteers were recruited from the grassroots together with the people who are in the corridors of powers.
They are already working in teams of three, making known the dangers of human trafficking in their local environments. They also collect anecdotal stories about incidences where people have been trafficked. Soon, they will be joined by other volunteers from other places in Kenya to work against human trafficking which is modern day slavery. The needs are great and the work difficult, yet, even if only the life of one person can be saved, it is worth it!
Radek Malinowski, Director Awareness against Human Trafficking (HAART), Kenya & East Africa.
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