Why Kenyans fear talking openly about illicit sex and prostitution

Why is it that Kenyans do not like to comment on morality issues except when they are well into their cups, while they will loudly proclaim their prejudice on other topics like politics which is usually above their heads?

A week ago in this paper, when I read that the majority of Kenyans want commercial sex work to be legalised, I expected a howl of protest from religious leaders denouncing such a nefarious, dastardly and sinful notion.

There was none, unless they did it in their places of worship.

I also expected our lawmakers to swear by the Bible they would never consider, let alone endorse, such an idea that would expose the august House to ridicule. But there was a studious silence from that quarter as well.

As for civil society and human rights activists, one would have thought they would maintain how enlightened such a move would be, and swear to be in the forefront in fighting for the fundamental rights of their sisters— and brothers— out there in the cold streets selling their bodies for a living. But it wasn’t to be.

But though I do not spend too much time in such confines, it is possible the topic was all the rage among inebriated ordinary folk. This is not to insinuate that all partake of the services offered by prostitutes, but quite a number believe they would get a better deal than they usually get at home, depending on how much they can afford to pay.

CAN DO NOTHING

One of the reasons why some Kenyans will not comment on the modest proposal to legalise prostitution is that it is one of the few professions which men— and governments in most parts of the world—pretend to hate but which they know they cannot do anything about.

In fact, let’s be honest; very few people who, in their youth, had reason to live, study or work in urban settings, can truthfully claim the services offered by commercial sex workers are a mystery to them.

But, of course, I am talking of those days before Aids when the worst that could happen to you would to be to get infected with crabs, the clap, or in the worst case, syphilis.

If that happened, all you did was to visit one quack or the other in dingy clinics, and for a modest fee, get a painful jab, abstain from sex and alcohol for a few days, and then back to business.

Today, I do not know what the young do to assuage their raging hormones, but I am convinced, from the stories I hear, that the oldest profession is still as much in fashion as it ever was, only people are, or should be, taking more precautions by insisting on protected sex.

The second fear that assails most people, both men and women, is that if you speak openly about such things, others will assume you are an avid practitioner, and with the hypocrisy that colours our every activity, keep well away from you.

REMAIN IN THE DARK

Buying sex is one of those things that are done in the dark and which should preferably remain in the dark, for truly, this is one profession that was never glorified anywhere in the world.

Call them whores, prostitutes, call-girls, twilight girls, escorts or commercial sex workers— it doesn’t matter what euphemism you clothe them in. They have been with us ever since we became “civilised”— and probably before— and they will be with us until the end of time, or men run out of spare cash, or they all become eunuchs.

In the meantime, no one will touch the subject openly unless one is conducting a scientific experiment, or a “survey” to come up with highly suspicious, preconceived conclusions like the one we have been citing all along.

Exactly what does this survey say? Quite besides the fact that it was conducted by an organisation I have never heard of before, Spectrum Network International, neither the conclusions nor the methodology used are at all convincing.

First, the study, using a rather small sample population of 1,224 liberal souls, concludes that 76.6 per cent of Kenyans, want both the national and county governments to regulate the commercial sex trade, first to curb the spread of Aids, and second, to generate tax revenue.

Even sex workers themselves want to pay tax to help the economy grow.

Another startling finding is that an individual sex worker will learn Sh1,500 a day on average, and since there are 200,000 of them countrywide, they make Sh300 million a day or Sh110.5 billion a year. Quite a tidy sum, if you think about it.

Tax that wisely and within two years, you could build the Standard Gauge Railway without seeking a single cent from the Chinese. What arrant nonsense!

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