Enock Amukhale
Hundreds of commercial sex workers held a procession in Kisumu town to mark the International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers on Thursday. The demonstrators started the march at Kondele, which is their ‘hotspot’ before moving to Nyerere through Ondiek roads singing songs in praise of their work.
They asked people to respect their job saying commercial sex enables them to make a living. According to director, Kisumu Sex Workers Alliance Dot Agala, the lakeside city has 5,300 registered sex workers who are usually suffer violence including assault by their clients and police brutality.
“Sex workers in Kisumu are treated like criminals. They are subjected to arbitrary arrest by the law enforcement officers, beaten by their clients who fail to pay for services rendered and cannot access Justice when they experience violations,” she said.
She urged her members to think beyond commercial sex and engage in other income generating activities adding they are fighting the recruitment of minors into the trade. “We are fighting the recruitment of children in the sex industry. We have identified a few and the cases are being handled in court,” she said.
The Day is marked on the December 17 annually to raise awareness on the plight of sex workers and strengthen their communities.
The post Kisumu sex workers pitch for their trade appeared first on Mediamax Network Limited.