A 15-year old girl was yesterday rescued from a brothel in Nairobi’s Eastleigh. The minor, who is currently in hospital after she was forced to get an abortion, is one among many underage girls who are being forced into prostitution in the estate.
“There’s a lady only known as V.I.P who gets them from Mandera County. There’s a broker there,” said one lady, who chose to remain anonymous. “She was brought to Nairobi, bleached and beautified. After that, every night, she is taken to a new man.”
Allegedly, the girls are sold to paedophiles.
The girl, who has been sexually abused several times, was forced to get rid of a pregnancy. “She was given medicine to remove the pregnancy. After that, she experienced brutality where she was kicked in the stomach to make sure that the pregnancy was terminated. Then the baby was expelled,” the source continued.
According to the report, underage prostitution is a booming business in Eastleigh. A visit to the house where the girls are kept revealed the reality of the horrors. Reporters, accompanied by police, found five girls between the ages of eight and 17. There was also a new-born baby, about seven days old.
This isn’t the first time teenage girls have been rescued from prostitution. A report on human trafficking by the UN stated that 15,000 girls from the Coast between the ages of 12 and 18 are engaged in prostitution.
These girls are smuggled from towns within and around the Coast, brought to the region where they are made a part of tourism-fed prostitution.
The same report identified Kenya and the Coast in particular as an origin, transit and destination for victims of human trafficking and sexual exploitation of children.