The recent rise in
the level of prostitution within the suburbs of the Kenyan towns and the
countryside is a great menace that is currently affecting countries creating
debates hence should not be looked at myopically, instead should be addressed
with the technicality and all the weight it possesses.
According to the
recent research by the Spectrum Network International, where many Kenyans are
advocating for the legalization of the prostitution act, the main reason given
is that, it will aid in cubing the spread of HIV/AIDS. This will automatically
be possible as the sex workers will be following the code of conduct in their
work based on safe sex practices.
Due to the
increased rate of unemployment in Kenya, many youths and middle aged people
prefer prostitution as a source of employment, and they are already engaging in
it even though it is illegal. This therefore raises an alarm especially when it
comes to human health now that HIV/AIDS is prevalent among the sex workers and
the citizens at large.
Even though the
commercial sex workers agree to pay tax to boost the economy, the government
will spend too much in catering for the victims buying their drugs, ARVs. Even
though the issue of tax payment is good, but it is of no benefit and cannot
substitute the loss of life through sexually transmitted diseases. Although the
sex workers can be supplied with anti – emergency pills (mainly made for rape
cases). The pills cease to work after continuous use as the body gets immune to
them. In research, Senegal and Ethiopia are some of the countries where
prostitution is legalized and the workers are not taxed still. Questions must
therefore be raised why they are not taxed yet tax is always for the good of
the nation.
The society too
should view the earliest trade in the society with a sober attitude. The trade
itself has a negative connotation to those who dare practice it. One is viewed
an outcast not mentioning the names that those who practice it are called, and
the stigma involved in it.
The law regarding
the thorny topic of prostitution in Kenya is to be found under section
154 of the penal code, cap 63 of the laws of Kenya. It states that
every woman knowingly living wholly or in part of the earnings of prostitution
or is proved to have, for the purpose of gain, exercised control, direction or
influence over movements of a prostitute in such a manner showing that she is
aiding, a betting or compelling her prostitution with any person or generally,
is guilty of misdemeanor.
In contrary, the
law does not state that it is a crime for one to engage in prostitution, the
section also only touches on the women’s involvement in the act. And a woman
can only be found guilty if she knowingly lives wholly of partly on the
earnings of prostitution
Though both the constitution of Kenya and all the cultures of the 42
tribes in Kenya are not in support of prostitution, and most of the ethnic code
of conducts suggests that prostitution is a barbaric act and should be fought
tooth and nail. However, it is always said that hit the iron while still red
hot. Let’s not give a deaf ear to the discussions and the protests aimed at
promoting prostitution but instead engage in the discussions fully in order to
come up with the correct remedy to the situation.
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