Commercial sex workers have now moved their business from the streets such as Koinange to residential areas due to curfew measures imposed.
Some commercial sex workers have taken prostitution to the suburbs where they either rent houses and get customers on the internet, or use barbershops and massage parlours as a cover for their businesses.
The reports from those who have ventured into this new mode of prostitution is that the business is booming in the residential areas.
In Mombasa, police last week arrested two women suspected of engaging in prostitution in Kisauni.
One of the women was injured after a client attacked her in an apartment she had rented for her work. Officers from Junda Police Station stormed the house and arrested the two women. Brothels have sprung up in Nyali and Bombolulu, where a client was stabbed by a sex worker after he refused to pay for services.Sex Workers in residential areas: Courtesy
“The incident caused the community to turn against them (sex workers), saying they have caused problems in the area. An eviction was initiated by the youth and that’s when they injured one of the sex workers,” said Ms Mariline Laini, the executive director of Nkoko Iju Africa, an NGO that deals with issues affecting sex workers.
“For boys, it will be hard to tell them that they should settle down with one partner, yet they see men walking into other houses to pay for sexual favours. For girls … you tell them that they should be faithful to one man, then they see one woman sleeping with even 10 men in one day,” Prof Shauri said. The effects of Covid-19 on the economy have likely led to an increase in prostitution as people look for ways to put food on the table following job losses, he added.
Aside from the economic effects of Covid-19, Prof Shauri argued that the spaces where prostitution mostly thrived — bars and streets — are off limits during curfew hours from 10pm to 4am, hence more people are inclined to continue the business in houses while soliciting clients online.
In Nairobi, areas such as Kilimani, Westlands, Parklands and Nairobi West are the hotbed of this new type of business which is risking the moral standards of the society.
But the sex workers decision to stalk residential areas is not only happening in Nairobi, other cities also have the same story.
Brothels disguised as massage parlours are not the only innovation that industry players have come up with. In the same suburb, several women have rented apartments for the sole purpose of prostitution.
The same story can be told all over the country as commercial sex workers struggle to make ends meet.
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