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Neema* is 21 years old and she live in a one bedroom house in Mathare South. She is formerly from Western Kenya and dropped out of high school in form two because her parents could not afford to pay for her school fees. She moved to Nairobi from her upcountry home that she shared with her family when she was 17 years old. Neema found it extremely difficult to find employment in Nairobi due a several factors including her level of education. She also found herself pregnant while still jobless. Neema was introduced to this trade by a girl friend and a neighbor who seemed to be doing well financially. She invited Neema to go out with her one evening and showed her where she worked. She told Neema that if she wanted to live well and earn good money she had to join her in the streets where she waited for potential and would be clients.
Initially Neema frequented Koinange Street in the company of her girlfriend. She got up to four clients per night who paid her relatively well in her opinion. She soon decided to venture into the business of strip- dancing with one of her friends and colleague from the streets business. Currently Neema is involved in both commercial sex work and stripping in a famous strip club in Nairobi. Active business starts at around 9.00 o’clock every evening of the week but depending on business she can be out until the early hours of the morning. She then spends most of the day resting and in preparation for the following night. Her Saturday nights double up for the sex work and stripping at the strip club.
Neema now has two children, one is as a result of her work as she has had not used had not used any contraception and had reported late for medical termination. This was either because of sheer ignorance which had resulted from low self esteem. After entry into sex work, she did not want to have children in since she was already a single mother. She however does not regret this as she is now able to provide through her job to both her children.
Neema always prefer unprotected sex but sometimes she has to contend with unprotected sex. In these instances the client could be willing to pay a lot of money. Sex workers also find it difficult to negotiate safer sex with intimate partners and clients in the context of physical and sexual violence perpetrated by some of them. This is usually when the client want to have unprotected sex. Neema has extremely limited access to information and virtually no support network. She has never been involved in any form of support for her as a commercial sex worker.
Neema does not have access to Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI) and HIV/AIDS services. The reasons for this are varied, but violence or fear of violence and discrimination play a role. She says that health services are often hostile to sex workers, subjecting them to disapproval, refusal to treat their health problems, mandatory HIV testing, exposure of their HIV status resulting to stigma. This has made her reluctant in seek health services. Neema feels that violence and lack of control over ones life means that sex workers may give lower priority to their health needs and behavior change, over more immediate concerns for safety and survival
Neema considers violence "normal" or "part of the job" and do not have information about her rights. As a result, she is often reluctant to report incidences of rapes, attempted murders, beatings, molestation or sexual assault to the authorities. These incidents are very common and even when she is willing to report she is afraid that her claims will most likely be dismissed. In several settings she has encountered police using anti-prostitution laws to harass, threaten, arrest, beat and sexually coerce sex workers. Sometimes city council police, watchmen and policemen sweep the streets and arrest her and her colleagues. Sometimes she/they are forced to give some of their proceeds to the watchmen or police to avoid being harassed and arrested, since they will be taken to the cells and will eventually cost them more money.
* Name changed to protect the identity.
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