Reclaiming God's image bearers: Commercial sex work dehumanizing!

TCN has taken an initiative of empowering the faith based institutions for the transformation of the vulnerable within the society. However, despite much effort and many successful stories, there is still continuous alarming increase rate of the target group. This has resulted to the continuous cycle hence failure of complete realization of the intended goal. Many factors have been attributed to the set back. This includes and not limited to few institutions helping the target group, inappropriate exit strategies from the institutions when the beneficiaries are of age. Thus they walk from one extreme end to another, leading to the rotation life of street-prison and back to street hence vicious cycle.

In 2010, the TCN set to find out what transpired in the street life and why the vicious cycle as well as the continuous increase in number. TCN found out that a significant number of female talked to mentioned gender based violence and the retrogressive cultural practices such as early marriage and Female Genital Mutilation as some of the major causes.

However, some felt that they would have rather succumbed to the situation back at home rather than the street life since it’s even tougher. Some cases were linked to the loss of husbands who are purported to be the sole bread winners of the family and their attributes to things such as trading sex to raise the income thus ending up being commercial sex workers. A significant number of them cited that their close relatives and guardians, who are suppose to support them, turn against them. This has led to a significant number of children, single mothers or widows ending up in town in search of jobs. When they fail to get a desired job, they succumb to situations o make the ends meet. Given that such situations are illegal in the society they end up in prison.

Like the case of “Jane”, who came to Nakuru town in search of a job to raise a livelihood for her children survival when the husband passed on, she ended up being a commercial sex worker. She narrates severally being imprisoned and charged together with her workmates when they were found loitering in the street at night. However, after the release they are forced back to the streets since it’s the only remedy they have at hand for their survival. However, some had no factors to attribute to the same as they found themselves in the streets, the streets is the only home they have ever lived to know.