sex workers in Kisumu marks international day to end violence on them.

 One of the banners that has been used by the sex workers in Kisumu to mark the International day to end Violence against them-Photo By Dickson Odhiambo

By Dickson Odhiambo.

   

 December 18, 2018.

sex workers in Kisumu marks international day to end violence on them.

A GROUP of sex workers operating in Kisumu City have joined their other colleagues in other parts of the world to mark the International Day to end Violence against them.

In an event marked at Ofafa Memorial Hall in Kisumu yesterday, the Sex Workers both males and females sent a strong message of appealing for their safety and security in the line of their duties.

Addressing the press during the event, Fredrick Otieno from Men for Positive living said a number of sex workers’ rights have been violated and even some of them have ended up being killed in the line of their duty.

He says the organization has embarked on sensitizing the sex workers on their rights as well as on issues of their safety and security in the line of their duties.

Otieno says they have been going round the various hot spots where the sex workers normally operates from to sensitize them, adding that it has realized that most of them are being sexually harassed by Boda  Boda Operators who have allegedly become one of the worst violators of the rights of sex workers.

He adds that it has also come to realize that a number of the sex workers have been living positively after contracting HIV/AIDS, adding that they sensitize them on how to continue living positive life by ensuring that they are fully enrolled to Anti-retroviral Therapy.

“We have realized that a number of  sex workers are HIV positive but most of them do not know their status hence we urge them to go to Voluntary Counseling and Testing centers or take oral tests where they can perform HIV tests in their homes on their own. This is very important and will help them to continue living positively,” he says.

He urges those sex workers who are under ARVs to continue being under such care.

The Kisumu Sex Workers Alliance Director Dotty Agala says there is a program known as hot spots outreach where the organization sensitizes the Sex Workers on issues of safety and security as well as being told to avoid bad behaviours like stealing from their clients.

She says sex workers in Kisumu have embarked on a cleaning exercise at both Kondele and Kisumu Central Police stations with an aim of creating rapport with those in charge of maintaining law and order.

“We have been doing this so as to help in creating rapport with the police and to ensure that the illegal arrests is not carried with an aim of extorting money from the Sex Workers,” Agala says.

She urges all the sex workers in Kisumu to register with the organization so as to ensure that their identity is known and where they operates from.

“I would urge all the sex workers through the leadership of the hot spots because we have all the contacts of the leadership there to register with Kisumu Sex Workers Alliance. We have begun this in Kondele where through the bar managers all the sex workers there are registered as this will now enable us to trace some of them who engage in negative vices like stealing from clients thus tainting the names of sex workers,” Agala adds.

She urges the sex workers not visit unknown places with unknown clients, adding that this is due to the issues safety and security.

ENDS: