KENYA: Solidarity Of Women In Distress (Solwodi) Organisation Is Working To Stop Sexual Exploitation Of Women And Children In Mombasa

Record ID: 362644

  • Title: KENYA: Solidarity Of Women In Distress (Solwodi) Organisation Is Working To Stop Sexual Exploitation Of Women And Children In Mombasa
  • Date: 17th December 2001
  • Summary: (L2) MOMBASA, KENYA (RECENT) (REUTERS) SV FLORENCE, HIV POSITIVE WOMAN, IN DARK ROOM CU OF FLORENCE SV/MCU (Kiswahili) FLORENCE, SAYING "When my sister died, I had to take care of her child and two other girls, as well as my own child. I had nothing, no one to go to and no one to ask for help. So, I had two choices: either to sell changaa or to become a prostitute." (2 SHOTS) SLV/CU OF THE CHILD FLORENCE IS TAKING CARE OF (2 SHOTS) MCU FLORENCE WITH CHILD CU FLORENCE IN MIRROR (2 SHOTS) MCU (Kiswahili) FLORENCE SAYING "During the day, I would be at home and then, at night, I would lock the door, give my baby a piriton tablet and go out. I lied to the girls. I would get between one and and two dollar fifty a night, enough to buy them food." LV/SLV OF MOMBASA STREET SCENES (4 SHOTS) CU VARIOUS OF PROSTITUTE (2 SHOTS) MCU (Kiswahili) FLORENCE SAYING "It wasn't my choice, I had to do this because, if I don't, we'll starve. If I wouldn't have brought home food, the girls would have run away, and I don't want them to do the same thing as me. "/CU OF HANDS (3 SHOTS) MCU (English) AGNES MAILU, SOCIAL WORKER WITH SOLIDARITY FOR WOMEN IN DISTRESS, SOLWODI, SAYING "Sometimes, no matter how aware they are of the risk, some of them think rather I die than see my children sleeping hungry or suffering." CU MEDICINES ON SHELF SV SOCIAL WORKER AND FLORENCE SV OF SOCIAL WORKER SV/CU OF SOCIAL WORKER AND FLORENCE (4 SHOTS) MCU (English) LORNA RUPIA, DIRECTOR, SOLIDARITY FOR WOMEN IN DISTRESS, SOLWODI, SAYING "It is not very easy for someone to come in and admit to you that to be a commercial sex worker, it's very very difficult. Gradually, once the client has gained confidence that you really are somebody who is interested in her, and who is interested in helping her, then they start opening up. Because, you know, out there they are mistreated so much that they don't have that self-esteem for one, they don't value themselves at all. So, there is still that suspicion: how sure am I that this person is really going to help me." SV (Kiswahili) FLORENCE SAYING "She asked me if I can stop working as a prostitute, and I said I would like to, but when the children are hungry, what do I do? So, she promised that she will come and visit me, and that she'll share her flour with me so that the children can eat." SV AGNES MAILU, SOCIAL WORKER MCU (English) AGNES MAILU, SAYING "When you bring hope, they start to value their life and they start seeing things in a different way. But that is not enough, because I might see things differently, but I am not able. So, we give them alternatives, we give them abilities, a chance they have missed in their life." SLV/CU/SV OF PEOPLE AT SALON STYLING HAIR AND PEDICURES (5 SHOTS) SV AGNES MAILU, SOCIAL WORKER, GETTING INTO HOUSE CU NEWSPAPER HEADLINE WHICH READS, 'MAYOR ORDERS ARREST OF COAST PROSTITUTE' LV POLICE IN STREET CU PULL OUT SV CHURCH MCU (English) REVEREND JAMES MRAMBA, ANGLICAN CHURCH, MOMBASA, SAYING: "It is not good for these prostitutes to be rounded up, while the men, who are probably the culprits in my case, they are more the culprits than the ladies, where are they? So if you can't arrest the men, because they can run faster than the ladies, then you don't also arrest these these prostitutes." SLV CHURCH SV/CU OF LORNA RUPIA IN OFFICE MCU (English) LORNA RUPIA, SAYING "Our main dream is that we are able to give all our clients ways in which they can generate income, so that they can be able to stand on their own two feet without having to go back to commercial sex, where they are stigmatised, where their self-esteem is low, where nobody wants to associate with them, so that they themselves can also have that self-respect and they feel that fine - I am a human being, I belong to this community, and I can give back to the community the little that the community has given to me." CU BACKSHOT OF PROSTITUTE (2 SHOTS) SV/CU OF FLORENCE AT HER DOOR STEP WITH CHILD (2 SHOTS)
  • Embargoed: 1st January 2002 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: MOMBASA, KENYA
  • Country: Kenya
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,Domestic Politics,People
  • Reuters ID: LVA4AP9UHV2N24HUT95HBQA64HE5
  • Story Text: Five years after the 1996 first World Congress in Stockholm, children all over the world are still being sold into sexual slavery. But the forthcoming 2nd World Congress in Japan aims to take stock of progress in implementing the Stockholm Agenda for Action, with an aim of promoting experiences and new knowledge in the area of commercial sexual exploitation of children.
    Organisations like Solidarity of Women in Distress, (SOLWODI) are working to stop sexual exploitation of women and children. SOLWODI is active among sex workers in the Kenyan Coastal town of Mombasa. Many underage girls there have been either tricked, or forced into prostitution to escape poverty.
    It is showing these women that there can be an alternative - and perhaps, most importantly, that they are not alone.
    Nineteen-year-old Florence is a survivor. Her parents and sister are dead and Florence herself is HIV positive, but she's still very much alive. Alive, but alone.
    "When my sister died, I had to take care of her child and two other girls, as well as my own child. I had nothing, no one to go to and no one to ask for help. So, I had two choices: either to sell changaa, or to become a prostitute,"
    says Florence.
    She tried to make a living out of the illegal brew first, but she got caught and sent to jail, and the children were on their own. Never wanting that to happen again, she resigned herself to a hidden life, a life of humiliation and shame, selling all she had left to sell, her body.
    "During the day, I would be at home and then, at night, I would lock the door, give my baby a piriton tablet and go out.
    I lied to the girls. I would get between $1 and $2.50 a night, enough to buy them food," Florence told Reuters.
    Florence lives in the bustling port town of Mombasa, on the Kenyan coast. It's a transit point for ships and trucks, and a popular tourist destination.
    For many girls whose bodies are on sale here, there's no shortage of clients.
    Shunned by the community, they have no one to turn to for help. Desperate for money, they'll sell themselves to anyone - for a pittance.
    "It wasn't my choice. I had to do this, because if I don't, we'll starve. If I wouldn't have brought home food, the girls would have run away, and I don't want them to do the same thing as me," said Florence.
    "Sometimes, no matter how aware they are of the risk, some of them think 'rather I die than see my children sleeping hungry, or suffering,'" said a social worker, Agnes Mailu.
    Agnes works for "Solidarity for Women in Distress" - or SOLWODI for short.
    Florence has decided to try and turn her life around.
    She's found a friend who's helping her - Agnes. SOLWODI was founded four years ago and is still the only charity here that reaches out to the prostitutes. It's a long and difficult process, which requires patience, understanding and friendship.
    It is not very easy for someone to come in and admit to you that to be a commercial sex worker, it's very very difficult. Gradually, once the client has gained confidence that you really are somebody who is interested in her, and who is interested in helping her, then they start opening up.
    Because, you know, out there they are mistreated so much that they don't have that self-esteem for one, they don't value themselves at all. So, there is still that suspicion: 'how sure am I that this person is really going to help me?" said Lorna Rupia, the Director of SOLWODI.
    "She asked me if I can stop working as a prostitute, and I said I would like to, but when the children are hungry, what do I do? So, she promised that she will come and visit me, and that she'll share her flour with me, so that the children can eat,"said Florence.
    Agnes' daily visits gave Florence back her future, her hopes, her self-esteem.
    But Agnes knows that it takes more than that to start a new life.
    "When you bring hope, they start to value their life and they start seeing things in a different way. But that is not enough, because I might see things differently, but I am not able. So, we give them alternatives, we give them abilities, a chance they have missed in their life," said Agnes Mailu.
    What forces most of these girls into prostitution is their lack of training and education. That is precisely what SOLWODI tries to give them.
    There are tremendous success stories. One of the girls who graduated from the hairdressing school opened her own salon and got married.
    But SOLWODI doesn't have the means to provide vocational training for all of their 300 members.
    Florence is one of many who didn't get into a programme.
    But, with Agnes, she's exploring different ways of earning money. She plans to set up a charcoal-selling business.
    SOLWODI also works with the community, so that everyone, from ordinary citizens to the police, starts to see these girls as people and not as worthless criminals.
    Their work has aroused sympathy for prostitutes where they least expected it.
    "It is not good for these prostitutes to be rounded up while the men, who are probably the culprits in my case, they are more the culprits than the ladies, where are they? So, if you can't arrest the men, because they can run faster than the ladies, then you don't also arrest these these prostitutes,"
    said Reverend James Mramba.
    The pastor plans to raise money for SOLWODI's projects.
    He's also decided to set up a Social Welfare Committee for people in need, regardless of faith or profession.
    SOLWODI's achievements are many. But, for the project members, this is just the beginning.
    "Our main dream is that we are able to give all our clients ways in which they can generate income, so that they can be able to stand on their own two feet without having to go back to commercial sex, where they are stigmatised, where their self-esteem is low, where nobody wants to associate with them, so that they themselves can also have that self-respect and they feel that fine - I am a human being, I belong to this community, and I can give back to the community the little that the community has given to me," said Lorna Rupia.
    Solwodi won't be able to stamp out prostitution in Mombasa, but what it does do, is show hundreds of women that there can be an alternative and perhaps, most importantly, that they are not alone.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2013. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register