Untitled - Terre des Hommes

The working day for child domestic workers may last from four in the morning until midnight and
average more than 10 hours per day. The children sometimes go unpaid for their work, as their wages
are either paid to their parents or are paid only in kind. 243 Tasks include cooking, cleaning, washing
clothes, carrying heavy loads of water over long distances and taking care of younger children.
Children are often trafficked into domestic labour and work in bonded situations. Much of child
domestic work takes place within the households of relatives. 244 Children also migrate from rural to
urban areas on their own, or through family members, in search of the opportunity for work or an
education, but end up as domestic workers in slave-like conditions. The child domestic workers
become trapped; often living hundreds of kilometres away from their parents, confined to the house,
isolated and lacking a support network. To escape these conditions, many children become runaways
and end up living on the streets and working in other hazardous sectors such as prostitution. 245
Domestic workers face a lot of abuse; they are an easy scapegoat for anything missing or broken in
the house and are frequently punished by beatings or by being thrown out for the night. These
children often have no access to education. Parents are not always aware of the conditions their
children are living and working under and some have been tricked by false promises of better
opportunities. 246 Labour inspectors are reluctant to enter private homes, especially when the worker is
a relative; it is difficult to prove exploitation. 247
Trafficking
There has been a recent increase in abductions of children from rural areas and slums as a result of
worsening economic conditions. Many abducted girls end up in prostitution. 248 ’Kenya is a source,
transit, and destination country for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of forced
labour and sexual exploitation’ (United States Department of State 2009). Children are trafficked
internally for a variety of functions, including domestic labour, commercial sexual exploitation and
forced agricultural labour.
b. Involvement of children in prostitution, production of pornography or
pornographic performances
Sex tourism occurs most frequently in Kenya’s coastal areas, 249 but commercial sexual exploitation of
children also occurs in hotels and brothels near slum areas. 250 Due to inadequate law enforcement,
corruption and widespread poverty, Mombasa is becoming known for child sex tourism. Many
people travel to Mombasa for the purpose of illicit sex. UNICEF reports that about 30% of all twelve
to eighteen year olds in Mombasa and other coastal areas of Kenya, are involved in casual sex work,
estimating that 10,000 to 15,000 in these regions are involved in the industry. 251 Commercial sexual
exploitation of children in Mombasa is most rampant from June to February; the high season for
tourism. However, perpetrators are local people as well as tourists. The ages of the children involved
depend on the customers and, although some are as young as twelve, the majority are above the age
243
Risper A. Omondi (African Network for the Prevention and Protection against Child Abuse and Neglect)
244
Bernard Kiura (ILO-IPEC)
245
Rose Odoyo (African Network for the Prevention and Protection against Child Abuse and Neglect)
246
Risper A. Omondi (African Network for the Prevention and Protection against Child Abuse and Neglect),
Robin Masinde (Gender Violence Recovery Centre)
247
Bernard Kiura (ILO-IPEC)
248
Christine Kungu (Women’s Rights Awareness Programme)
249
Tonny M. Odera (The Cradle)
250
Ruben Centre Group Discussion, Robin Masinde (Gender Violence Recovery Centre)
251
http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/kenya_37817.html
84