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Society
It's the Women Strippers Who Pay
by Tabitha Nderitu
The special
midnight shows at striptease joints, with nude women performers, are a
rage in Kenya, despite the fact that the law bans all forms of
pornography. There are two sets of laws that deal with this issue:
there's Section 181 of the Penal Code that makes trafficking, publishing
and exhibition of obscene publications punishable, and the Sexual
Offences Act Cap 3 of 2006, which specifically targets children for
protection from acts of lewd exposure.
However, when it comes to enforcing the law, unfortunately, it is never
the club owners - normally men - who are arrested. During police raids,
it is the women who end up behind bars. And this discriminatory attitude
also extends to the prostitutes working in the unofficial red light
districts in the country.
In mid-June this year, the police unwittingly invited the press to
witness a raid at Deep West, a popular tavern located in a middle-class
suburb in Nairobi. Brazenly, in front of TV cameras, the police cornered
the women clients and performers, while tacitly providing a getaway for
the men.
This is not an isolated incident. The police has been known to provide a
safe passage to men 'caught in the act', while being harsh on the women.
In 2005, there was a huge scandal in Kenya, when five male legislators
caught kerb crawling along Nairobi's Koinange Street, the capital's
unofficial red light district, were freed unconditionally by the
officers at the Central Police Station. The women prostitutes caught in
the sting operation, though, were not that lucky.
Fortunately, though, when they were produced in the High Court, the
magistrate, Catherine Mwangi, let them go. She felt the police were
"steeped in a discriminatory mind frame that believes women are
inherently prostitutes, while the male clan is eternally immune from
soliciting sex in exchange for money or pleasure."
She further added, "It's discriminatory and unacceptable that in this
day and age the organ of government required to act in word and in deed
in a non-discriminatory manner is perpetrating a hollow belief that men
are incapable of moral lapses. For the record, it's a known fact that
the prostitution trade has the men to thank because, traditionally, it
is they who are the clients. But seldom do the police see them as
deserving of a reprimand."
Kenya is among the few sub-Saharan states where the economy has a
serious capitalist element. Conspicuously, within urban locales, a form
of raw hedonism reigns as king, coalescing around five phenomena: Sex,
Music, Idolism, Liquor and Evil, popularly termed, 'SMILE'.
In response to the allegations of gender discrimination, police
spokesperson, Erick Kirathe believes it's a "coincidence" that when
prostitutes are paraded in court they all happen to be women. "The men
escape the dragnet because they normally outrun the police but women are
slow and, therefore, easier to apprehend," he says.
In fact, when it was pointed out that his answer paints women as the
sole perpetrators of prostitution (dismissing the existence of male
prostitutes), he argues that it's "difficult" to point out a male
prostitute, but for women it is different. "They are easy to detect
because of their provocative attire. How do male prostitutes dress? When
we can answer this question the issue of acting unfavorably towards
women during such raids will be resolved," he says.
While the law criminalizes lewd acts of a sexual nature, punishing the
guilty with either a maximum fine of Ksh 50,000 (US$ 700) or three
months incarceration or both, a bit of palm greasing offers a way out.
"The police force has an image problem. Reports from generic human
rights groups have routinely placed the police force as the foremost
bribe-taker in Kenya. And the perception on the ground shows that civil
society has little faith in the police force as it is presently
constituted," says Hussein Hassan, Deputy Chair of the Kenya Human
Rights Commission (KHRC), a government funded institution.
However, according to Dr David Ndii, an economist with The Leadership
Institute, a local NGO involved in policy making and research,
remuneration of police cadres needs to be improved if everyone expects
the local constabulary to walk the straight and narrow road. "How do you
expect the police force to eschew tendencies of palm greasing if an
inspector currently earns a miserable Ksh 15,000 (US$ 235) every month,
with no quarters to shelter a family?" he asks.
But, what of the strippers? Already, life for them is tough. While some
are struggling to make ends meet as single parents, others have to send
home money to their families in the villages. Joan Akinyi, 27, a
stripper, says, "I don't really admire what I do, but for now it's the
only job for me. I am a single parent, so right now getting a formal job
is difficult. Also, the money I make at strip clubs in a week sometimes
even exceeds what a formal job can offer me."
Akinyi had to learn to fend for herself early in life, as her parents
separated when she was young. "Currently, my mother lives with my two
siblings in the rural areas and when I make good money I send some money
home," she reveals.
Mary Wangui, 25, another stripper, comments, "Stripping is like any
other job. However, if I got a formal job with a good pay I would switch
without hesitation."
Ask her whether her family approves, she reveals, "My family does not
know that I strip for a living. If they knew, I know they would be
annoyed with me. But I need money to survive and stripping offers me
that opportunity."
So, what do the girls take home? A good day at the office brings in Ksh
3,500 (US$62), while on a slow day they earn just about Ksh 1,000
(US$15).
Like Wangui and Akinyi, there are around 200 strippers, in the age group
of 18 and 35, working in Nairobi alone. And they considerably boost the
earnings of large liquor selling outlets and clubs. In fact, owners
concede that they can't do without these performers. "Our business is
driven by market forces. If we banned the nude shows, we would be run
out of town by our competitors. Look, it's the 'in' thing. It wows our
patrons and they keep coming back for more. In fact, our bar is
relatively tame. Some joints even employ very young girls, just out of
school. Here, a woman has to be above 18 years because that is the
official age for adulthood. But stopping this show is out of the
question," says Charles Mustapha, co-owner of Wallet, a popular
bar-cum-restaurant in Nairobi.
"If it's unlawful to have nude women performing why doesn't the
government ban altogether the advertising of these joints in the
mainstream media?" asks Prisca Nyamai, 26, an executive sales agent with
a leading beverage manufacturing firm.
August 10,
2008
By arrangement with
WFS
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