Saturday, September 8, 2012

KENYA: Exposed! A high-risk porn business

NAIROBI, - The US adult film industry was brought to a virtual standstill recently after an actor tested HIV-positive and all his sexual partners were tested for the virus. There are no such precautions in Kenya's porn industry, where actors usually perform without a condom or routine HIV testing.

"I don't know my HIV status and I can't say I know that of the men we act with," said Angela*, who recently made the switch from eight years of street-based sex work to acting in local porn films. "I know it is a dangerous thing I am doing, but I console myself that it is the same people all the time we act with in the videos... at times, doing it without a condom might give you extra pay."

Kenya's local porn industry, once limited to photography, has grown in recent years. DVD peddlers surreptitiously hawk films on street corners while some producers and distributors have created adult web sites and even clubs where audiences can watch films or witness live sex acts. More profitable than street- or bar-based sex work, acting in porn films is an attractive option for many young men and women struggling to make ends meet in the capital, Nairobi.

Producing, trafficking or performing in pornographic films is illegal in Kenya under section 181 of the penal code, and is punishable by a prison sentence of up to two years.
According to one producer and distributor who preferred anonymity, this makes it difficult to regulate health and safety in the industry.

"We encourage people to test for HIV but it's not mandatory, and even when they do get tested, we have no way of knowing that the papers they bring are genuine," he said. "Sometimes one participant will agree to go for a test and the other won't; because we are working on deadlines, we often just get them to do it live [without a condom]."

He added that while he encouraged condom use, the actors were often drunk when they performed and protecting themselves against HIV was not high on their list of priorities. "Sometimes they say the styles they want to use are not condom-friendly - it's really up to the actors if they want to use them," he said.

Unlike the US, where porn stars can make thousands of dollars, local actors earn between US$70 and $150 per film, according to the producer. For many of the girls, this means they need a second job.
Veronica*, 19, does sex work when video work is slow. "You know videos don't come every day so when they are not available, I continue with my work as a prostitute," she said. "When I am working as a prostitute I use condoms all the time with my clients but you know in acting, it is not automatic... I have never thought of it as that risky, you know."

Although there are no figures for HIV prevalence among those working in Kenya's porn industry, sex workers and their partners are considered a “most at-risk population”, accounting for an estimated 14 percent of new infections annually. They can also act as a bridge for the spread of HIV into the general population.

"The men I act with in the videos are colleagues... my boyfriend doesn't know what I do and I would never want him to know," Angela said, adding that if he ever found out, the relationship would be over.

The government, which has this year increased its focus on most at-risk populations, has started targeting sex workers for HIV prevention. It is also conducting a “risk factor analysis” of these groups to better understand their risks and how to address them.

"Many of the people who take part in adult films are commercial sex workers from what we know, so I think they can greatly benefit from prevention programmes that target commercial sex workers and other most at-risk populations," said Nicholas Muraguri, head of the National AIDS and Sexually transmitted infections Control Programme. "Maybe what needs to be done is to educate them and emphasize to them the need to first test for HIV and [practise] consistent condom use in whatever it is they are doing."

Kenyan Coast a Haven for Child-Porn Producers

MOMBASA – Kenya's coastal region is one of the nation's poorest, a place where vacationers have long exploited rampant poverty and lax law enforcement, allowing its sex-tourism industry to flourish. As early as 2006, UNICEF reported between 2,000 and 3,000 Kenyan girls and boys are involved in a full-time, year-round commercial sex trade. In recent years, however, NGO workers have noticed that more children are becoming involved in pornography, unwittingly or otherwise. “We’ve been hearing that there are people who come [specifically] to do pornography - and the younger the child, the better the movie," says Grace, a Mombasa-based rights advocate for women and children who has asked that her last name be withheld. "So most of them go for young children." An advocate for more than eight years, Grace says many of the children with whom she works are reporting an increase in clients taking photographs of them nude or having sex. "They pay, and by going for the young children, we have many cases coming up that many are going into the trade," she says. At 22 years of age, Jasmine is employed as a sex worker on the north coast of Mombasa. When she was underage, she says, she once agreed to have sex with a German man she had met at a bar. “So then I stayed with him for four days, then I noticed," she says, explaining that the man had been recording their entire interaction with a camera the size of a button. "I know how to use [a] computer. I asked to check my emails ... I saw everything we were doing, he had recorded it," she says. "Then I was asking him, [and] he told me ‘it’s gonna sell for a lot of money.’ When he gets money, he’s going to send for me. I told him, ‘why didn’t you tell me? You could have told me, we could have agreed, because I need money too.” Availability of technology, ease of digital distribution Maureen Karisa, Solidarity with Women in Distress (SOLWADI) CEO, says her field officers are seeing new cases of child pornography on a daily basis. “There are some who even take that pornography with just a pen," she says. "I think it’s the technology that has come in. That they’re able to [record] ... you when you’re not even aware of what is happening, and then they go and sell it.” But some children know exactly what is happening. John started sex work when he was nine. He did his first pornographic film when he was 11 and his second when he was 13. Now 17 years old and a junior in high school, he says a European man - a self-professed “filmmaker” - had boys and girls sign a consent form to be recorded having group sex, even though Kenyan law defines anyone under the age of 18 as a child. The production, he says, took place at a rented Mombasa brothel, where it could be staged without attracting attention. After being presented with alcohol and encouraged to drink, the children, he says, had unprotected group sex with older men before a production team. “The worst thing is, we did it unprotected," says John, explaining that young children are too naïve to understand the importance of protecting themselves and that older men see them as disposable. "You can see how dangerous that can be, without doing any kind of protection.” Laws unenforced According to Ruweidah Hussein, program officer with Muslims for Human Rights (MUHURI), the absence of legal protection only serves to give more confidence to offenders. “I think it’s happening more and more because people are not punished about it," she says, describing inadequate law enforcement as perhaps the primary reason few cases aren't brought forth. "Issues of pornography is a very big offense in our country," she says. "They’ve made very beautiful laws that say child pornography is a very big crime, but no one is there to monitor such activities.” Grace, too, agrees that even though prostitution is illegal in Kenya, it will continue with impunity if laws continue to go unenforced and the local child-porn production industry continues to be ignored. “[Tourists] don’t come to see animals, trees, zebras in [the] Masai Mara, but they come specifically to exploit our young, coming generation," she says of the coastal region. "It is high time [that] I think all of us should sit and think on the issues of our children. If you don’t come up with what to do, and how to go about this issue, it is really becoming a time bomb.”

Pimps, child sex deals, pornography all in kenya….REAL LIFE STORY

The limousine sped down the crowded street in a breath-taking speed, missing a motorcyclist by a whisker. The driver, a bulky young man, rolled down his tinted car window and wagged a finger at the bewildered motorcyclist. It turned left into the Malindi-Lamu Road before branching off a murram street cutting through a row of fortified cottages that give Malindi its glamour. The driver hooted once and the gates to one of the makuti-thatched cottages swung open. The driver, who we later learnt is a seasoned pimp, had just delivered two teenage girls to one of his clients. Residents, who know him, said he is a key figure in Malindi’s intricate but flourishing child prostitution ring in which girls as young as 13 years are lured into sex slavery and ponography filming orgies. We followed and later witnessed him delivering another young girl to an elderly tourist at a local beach. Barely an hour after the introduction, the pair went intimate, kissing and cuckolding on the sandy sea front. In an undercover operation in the tourism-famed seaside town, The Underworld last week came face to face with the sex merchants of Malindi who have ruined the future of many young girls. Lucrative jobs They lure them with money and promises of good life but later abandon them – penniless, abused and even sick. Some have been tricked into travelling abroad for lucrative jobs only to end up in brothels. Others have even died in the hands of their abusers. With the festive season beckoning, Malindi is abuzz as tourists flock in droves. Among them are genuine tourists coming with their families. But there are those on sex tourism while others are on pornography documentary assignments. As tourists fly into Malindi, Kenyan women, young and old, are also taking positions across the town in spirited bid to share the tourism cash. Just like Mombasa, Malindi, hosts thousands of child sex workers, making it a haven for elderly rich men looking for young partners. Brothels, some passing as ordinary residential houses dot the town, now jokingly referred as Kenya’s sex tourism capital. Robert Masha, a shopkeeper, showed us one of the brothels supplying young girls to the tourists. Located on a filthy backstreet, the single story house had been occupied by a middle-aged woman whom we learnt had moved out the previous day. Neighbours said she had been living with four young girls whom she claimed were her sisters. “We only discovered it was a brothel the other day. She left in a hurry after we confronted her,” said a neighbour who requested anonymity for fear of reprisals. Investigations revealed that the brothel owners work with a group of pimps who supply the girls to tourists. Cottages of evil “You will never see the tourists. They wait in their cottages while young men search for the girls. Running brothels have become a big business in Malindi,” said Joshua Fondo, a civil society activist. Most of the young sex workers come from as far Kisii, Migori, Muranga and Vihiga. There are victims of poverty, broken families or just peer pressure. Some of the girls attach themselves to brothels while others jointly rent small rooms from where they run their trade. Betty Jumwa, an elder at Gogoda village within Malindi town location told The Underworld of how she recently rescued five girls who were being held in a brothel. “I stormed the brothel and arrested the woman who had been forcing young girls, including her daughters, to have sex with old men,” said Jumwa. She added: “The women charged Sh300 per girl for locals, and it’s apparent the pimps later sold the girls to tourists at a higher fee. The woman is now in prison.” Jumwa said two of the rescued girls aged 13 and 14 later tested HIV positive. Some of the girls interviewed said they find themselves trapped in a web of sex trade after being lured by agents who promise those jobs in salons and hotels. They endure dehumanising sexual activities, including sodomy, group sex, drugging and assaults. Further investigations revealed that some parents encouraged child prostitution by entrusting their children with tourists little known to them with the hope of monetary rewards. Some ‘philanthropist’ tourists take up needy girls and promise to pay their school fees only to turn against them. “We have a case where a tourist eloped with a young girl he has been sponsoring in a local school. He asked the parents to allow her accompany him to the beach. She never returned and we hear she is now working as a prostitute in Germany,” said Florence Motanga Chizwe of Kawia Ufike women group that rehabilitates victims of sexual abuse. Chizwe said some beach operators were also involved in sexual abuse against young girls. Victims “My group is taking care of three young girls impregnated by beach boys. They use the money they get from the tourists to lure the girls out of school,” she said. But the abuse is not confined to girls, young boys have been sodomized and forced to take drugs. Ronny Mwalamu, a child right activist said although tourism was to blame for the rising child sex prostitution, the buck stops with the parents, some of whom she says willingly sold their children to strangers. Just last week, a 56-year-old German tourist was accused of having sex with the 13-year-old minor at a hotel in Mombasa. He, however, defended himself, saying she had taken the girl to his hotel room to give her school fees. Observers said this was a common trick used by wayward tourists. Most culprits escape the law because they prefer secluded and fortified cottages. Attempts to access one of the cottages hit a dead end when a shark-faced guard stopped us about 10 metres from the gate. “No entry here. This is private property,” he said above the din of barking dogs.

Porn in Kenyan campuses

The other day I wrote a post about Kenyan matatus taking it too far. Well, the story of porn being made in Kenyan campuses is not new. I first heard it when in my first year. What actually happened is there was this clip going around on J-net. Who remembers those wires? Yeah, I never did praise J-net, did I? It is a good idea, because the LAN enables file sharing, so you can copy movies, music, series, software, viruses and anti-viruses, and porn clips. Here is some advice, be careful when opening media files that you find hidden in C:\Program Files\Windows instead of D:\Entertainment. Also, be wary of unlabeled CDs and DVDs. Almost every guy in this campus (not all…I just said most) have a number of porn clips in their computers. Anyway, there was this clip going round, it was not professional or anything. I actually never did get to watch it, despite my curiosity. See, the girl had no idea the boyfriend was using his phone to tape their coitus activities…then he showed it around and before you can say video, it was circulating wildly on J-net. The lady in question denied it hotly (Is my a** that light? That’s not me…or something like that) but the damage had already been done. While this was being discussed around campus, the K.U video came up. Apparently, theirs was a complete directed video. I don’t know their distribution rights or to what end…also, video passed me by. I find it hard to sit down with anyone to watch porn. It seems K.U have taken it a notch higher and that is not their only video. Am not sure anyone still has those videos in their computers, people have a habit of formatting their computers every so often. There was also this incident of a couple that was suspended or expelled from a private university for taping their sessions. I don’t know how their videos were discovered, but the administration said they could not tolerate it and both were sent packing. All I heard was the story, I can’t vouch for it’s accuracy. The Kenyan industry has not been left behind. Porn is regularly churned out in River Road, there were even some interviews in some paper. The young girls in the video get as little as Kshs. 100 per session. They ask where else can they find a livelihood? How about Kikuyu porn? This one I actually saw. This friend of mine was scanning his flash disk for viruses, since he had given it out to carry a movie. We decided to check out the movie, getting fascinated it’s actually a local movie in a local language. The first slide was this copyright warning…then all of a sudden, dark bodies grinding, cameras zooming in, dirty language being spewed out…okay, we did not watch an entire minute. We deleted the file. I don’t even know where am going with this, just thought I’d let it out.

Porn Stars take over movie industry in Kenya

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Pornography in Kenya is on the increase

Pornography is on the increase in Kenya. Walking at the river road area of Nairobi, one can easily buy pornographic magazines and DVDs. I don't know what the government is doing to save our youth from perversion. The proliferation of brothels in Nairobi doesn't help the situation either. Nowadays massage parlors are just brothels in disguise. From as little as Ksh. 1000, one can get a massage with happy endings. Sex trade on the internet is booming and Kenya has not been left behind. There are so many local adult sites which is just a euphemism for pornographic sites. Just walk into any cybercafe and most people will be viewing pornography. Our colleges, our girls and boys are all getting lost in this. Never mind that HIV/AIDS is on the increase. Who will save our youth?

Woman divorced when she was caught watching porn

A recently married woman was on Monday divorced in Thika town, after she was caught by her husband watching pornographic movies. The man who is a insurance executive in Thika town came home unexpected and caught his wife naked and masturbating in their guest room while watching the dirty movie. . Furious and irritated the man gave his wife a dog’s beating before sending her to his matrimonial home. The man accused the woman of indirect form of prostitution and filed an informal divorce immediately. According to a neigbour who spoke to the DAILY POST on condition of anonymity, the man said he cannot accept evil things to be performed at his house. “How can she masturbate and she has a husband who take care of her things, am a devoted Christian and I cannot accept such behaviors at my house”, the furious man said.