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Maya OppenheimWomen's Correspondent @mayaoppenheim Saturday 15 September 2018 17:15
Girls in Kenya are forced to have in sex in exchange for sanitary productsdue to the prevalence of period poverty and the shame, stigma and public health misinformation which surrounds menstruation.
New exclusive research by Unicef found 65 per cent of females in the Kibera slum – an area of the capital of Nairobi which is one of the largest urban slums in Africa – had traded sex for sanitary pads.
The United Nations agency, which focuses on protecting the rights of every child, found 10 per cent of young adolescent girls admitted to having transactional sex for pads in western Kenya.
The research found 54 per cent of Kenyan girls reported challenges with accessing menstrual hygiene management products and 22 per cent of girls of school attending age indicated they bought their own sanitary products.
Speaking exclusively to The Independent, Andrew Trevett, Unicef Kenya chief of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene, said the humanitarian organisation had found it was not uncommon for girls to be sexually abused in exchange for sanitary items.
“We have motorcycle taxis called boda bodas and the girls engage in sex with the drivers who in exchange source the sanitary pads,” he said. “This is happening for two reasons. One obvious reason is poverty – girls and women don’t have the financial means to buy sanitary products.”
Kenyan girls forced into sex in exchange for sanitary products
Girls in Kenya are forced to have in sex in exchange for sanitary productsdue to the prevalence of period poverty and the shame, stigma and public health misinformation which surrounds menstruation.
New exclusive research by Unicef found 65 per cent of females in the Kibera slum – an area of the capital of Nairobi which is one of the largest urban slums in Africa – had traded sex for sanitary pads.
The United Nations agency, which focuses on protecting the rights of every child, found 10 per cent of young adolescent girls admitted to having transactional sex for pads in western Kenya.
The research found 54 per cent of Kenyan girls reported challenges with accessing menstrual hygiene management products and 22 per cent of girls of school attending age indicated they bought their own sanitary products.
Speaking exclusively to The Independent, Andrew Trevett, Unicef Kenya chief of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene, said the humanitarian organisation had found it was not uncommon for girls to be sexually abused in exchange for sanitary items.
“We have motorcycle taxis called boda bodas and the girls engage in sex with the drivers who in exchange source the sanitary pads,” he said. “This is happening for two reasons. One obvious reason is poverty – girls and women don’t have the financial means to buy sanitary products.”
Kenyan girls forced into sex in exchange for sanitary products
