Nyeri sex workers drop trade for table banking

For 18 years, Emily (not her real name) has been a commercial sex worker in Kieni, Nyeri County, after enduring a difficult childhood full of poverty and neglect.

She was only 15 when she started roaming the streets of Mweiga town in the constituency in search of clients after completing primary school. She did this to fend for herself.

Now 33 and a mother of two, she feels it’s time for her and her colleagues to turn over a new leaf.

She concluded this after going through a myriad of challenges in the trade. She rounded up 65 women, including herself, who live off sex work, and started a table banking project. They hope this will be their ticket out of poverty.

Most of the women, who are mostly single mothers, are hooked on drugs and alcohol.  Most of them cannot afford basic needs for their children.

 “We face stigmatisation at every turn. Our children have become addicts and ended up dropping out of school because of the lifestyles we lead. We needed an intervention like this one,” she says.

HIV/Aids

The nature of their job puts them at a higher risk of being infected with HIV/Aids and other sexually transmitted diseases. This knowledge led them to start support groups where they share their experiences, gain health education, and brainstorm solutions for the challenges they face in their line of work.

“During these meetings, we coined the idea of coming up with a self-help group that will alleviate us from poverty,” Emily says.

They also brainstormed on risk-limiting plans, including reducing sexual encounters, minimising alcohol consumption during work, negotiating condom use, and engaging in complementary sources of income.

“Some of us have started doing other jobs such as vending fruits, as an alternative way of sustaining our livelihoods,” she notes.

With encouragement from the local chief, the sex workers formed and registered Mweiga Joy Women Self-help Group in 2020.

“The vision is to have the members own a piece of land and leave an inheritance for their children,” says Emily, who is also the group spokesperson.

The group currently has a membership of 65 who work and live within the sub-county.

Spiritual leader

Their spiritual leader, Esther Mureithi, says the group has brought hope amongst the female sex workers by addressing and trying to end the stigma around them and their work.

“We try to bring them together through preaching the word of God and encouraging them to venture into other businesses to sustain their livelihoods. We do this in the hope that they can also reform,” she says.

The other plan of the group is to ensure they are no longer referred to as alcoholics, but as people who can work hard and realise a better life for themselves and their children.

They meet twice a month, and members contribute Sh100 each. When the members borrow money from the group, the loan attracts a loan interest of 10 per cent.

“We are encouraged to borrow money from the repayments with interest to increase the group’s loan fund,” notes Emily.

Other table banking groups have been formed in three more sub-counties through the help of peer educators. The groups meet twice a month. Each member contributes Sh250.

Besides stigma, some of the challenges they encounter are harassment from their clients, regular arrests and failure to receive their payment, addiction, and brawls within the community.

Because of alcohol addiction, some abandon their children for good.

Jaws of poverty

With Covid-19 affecting nightclub businesses such as bars, the sex workers have lost most of their clients, forcing them deeper into the jaws of poverty.

“Things worsened during the pandemic because they mainly relied on bars. Some had resorted to begging. And that's when I took it upon myself to always ensure they are fed and have this table banking project going,” says Emily.

They have also received food donations from county officials.

Each of the five sub-counties in Nyeri has a sex worker representative where they try to foster behaviour change through health education, provision of condoms and caregiving to those already convicted.

Emily says she has started her journey towards reforming.

“I want to be a good mother and caregiver now. I want to be available for my children and get my life back together.”

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