By Phares Mutembei
‘My body my business. Stop police harassment. Mwili Wangu Chaguo langu. We want Justice. Viva Sex Workers. Aluta continua!’
Sex workers Tuesday came out in numbers to demand their rights and to appeal to the society for acceptance.
They castigated members of Kenyan society and the justice system, which they argued, gave them a raw deal and treated them as if they are not Kenyans, with human rights.
They marched through Koinange to Biashara streets where they stated, "We want to sell to Kenyans. And when the police arrest sex workers we should be taken through the legal process according to the Law just like the rest.
Sex workers demonstrate in Nairobi streets on Tuesday to mark International Day for Sex Workers.[Photo: Collins Kweyu/Standard] READ MOREFrom forced marriage to a rebellious faithful, inside Maimuna's advocacy for justice Githurai traders block Thika Superhighway over KeNHA demolition order Turkey MPs back moves to 'reintegrate' former Kurdish fighters |
We don’t want to be arrested and charged with tramped up charges like loitering." "We are mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters but we are stigmatised and denied access to healthcare, legal aid and other services because of our work. We chose to do sex work and should be left to do it. We are of the proper age and as long as sex is consensual, we should be left alone, work is work," they said.
Ululations, chants, song and dance, screams, rent the air as sex workers poured into the streets of Nairobi in droves. They came in all shapes and colours, sizes and in contrasting moods but with one goal; to hammer the point home that they exist, and are here to stay.
Emblazoned in red colours, they wore mask to signify the torment they experience as a result of stigmatisation. The sex workers assembled at the Mad House on Koinange Street, which has for a long time been associated with the trade. The sex workers, members of the Kenya Sex Workers Alliance were marking the International Day for Sex Workers.
As the procession snaked its way through the streets, they held aloft placards with messages they wanted all to read. Their first port of call was the High Courts, where they voiced their concern for justice denied. They lay prostate at the gates of the Court and broke into the signature demonstration chant, haki yetu, haki yetu. People in the streets stopped to drink in the unfolding drams as the unfazed sex workers sang and danced and pressed their case for recognition.
The police at the High Court gates looked on unconcerned as the sex workers lay and camped there for minutes. Former Kibwezi MP Kalembe Ndile, arriving at the court for an IDP matter, soaked in the drama. "They should be listened to. They have a right to demonstrate. They were there even in Biblical times.
They will be here, unless the Government does something to sustain them," said Ndile, himself a vociferous campaigner for human rights, especially the squatters. "And the way women are beating their husbands, the men have to go where they feel secure, where they are welcome!" said Ndile, attracting a few nods in agreement from the men milling around.
"Their customers are not hawkers. Their customers are the men you see here, the working class," added Ndile.
‘We will sell our goods here. We will go to Koinange, because we are also Kenyans," they sang. "This is our work and we want to sell our goods to willing Kenyans."
