29 Kenyan women arrested in Saudi Arabia over prostitution (Photos)

dennis kibet

February 9, 2017 12:48 PM

Loitering in a street or a public place for the purposes of prostitution in Kenya is a felony while soliciting for sexual favours is termed as a misdemeanour in this country.

But despite the risks involved including sexually transmitted diseases, run- ins with law enforcers, and in some cases violent assault and death, many women still engage in providing these services.

This because a large number of people in the country live below the poverty line and are pushed to the streets to fend for themselves and for their family.

Also, the fact that prostitution is often dealt with a slap on the wrist by the law could also be encouraging the growth of the sex trade industry.

And thus the oldest trade in the world continues to grow exponentially in our country. According to a recent research, 1 out of 177 Kenyan women are prostitutes with Nairobi alone harbouring more than 40,000 sex workers in a country where 200,000 women operate in the sex trade.

Outside the country, Kenyan women are also engaging this trade and 29 of them were busted by the Riyadh District Police in Saudi Arabia after a raid.

The police were initially coming to look for an illegal brewery only to find out that is was a brothel too.

During their raid they arrested 29 Kenyan prostitutes and 3 Pakistani Nationals in the AlDar AlBaida neighbourhood house.

After the arrest, the 32 suspects were taken into custody waiting to be taken to trial.

Unfortunately for the Pakistani men, Saudi Arabia is known for its strict anti-alcohol laws with the penalties for brewing alcohol being over-the-top. Back in 2015, a 74 year old British man was sentenced to one year in prison and 360 lashes after being busted with wine in his car.

dennis kibet