Human trafficking in Kenya
Encyclopedia
The Government of Kenya
does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of human trafficking
. Kenya’s anti-trafficking efforts improved markedly over the reporting period, particularly through greater investigations of suspected trafficking cases.
through its Sexual Offenses Act, enacted in July 2006, which prescribes penalties that are sufficiently stringent and commensurate with those for rape
; however, the law is not yet widely used by prosecutors. The Employment Act of 2007 outlaws forced labor and contains additional statutes relevant to labor trafficking. In September 2007, relevant government agencies provided comments on a draft comprehensive human trafficking bill to the Attorney General
’s office, which continues to work with NGOs to further refine the bill. Police opened investigations into a number of significant cases during the reporting period, including the suspected trafficking of children by two school teachers in Kirinyaga District
. In October 2007, police in Malindi
arrested an Italian national on suspicion of human trafficking, facilitating child prostitution, and drug trafficking. Upon the conclusion of a separate police investigation, two women were charged with child defilement and child prostitution after luring a 14-year old girl to their home and forcing her into prostitution. Two children trafficked to Tanzania
for forced labor were rescued by Kenyan officials and placed in a children’s home; the investigation is ongoing as police believe the perpetrators are harboring an additional 40 children and six adults in forced labor. Six people in Bomet District
and Nandi District
of Rift Valley Province were charged with the sale and trafficking of children. The Police Commissioner
worked with Interpol
to investigate the suspected trafficking of a Kenyan girl to The Netherlands and four children to Ireland
. The Ministry of Home Affairs began, for the first time, collecting information on trafficking cases from the police, media, foreign governments, and UNODC. Corruption
among law enforcement authorities and other public officials hampered efforts to bring traffickers to justice. Some anti-trafficking activists made credible claims that, in certain areas, police officials were complicit in trafficking activities.
and placed them in a children’s home. The government referred two additional trafficking victims to IOM
for assistance during the reporting period, and ensured the well-being of a number of other victims. City Council Social Services Departments in Nairobi
, Mombasa
, and Kisumu
operated shelters to rehabilitate street children vulnerable to forced labor and commercial sexual exploitation; the government provided services to children exploited in the commercial sex industry at these facilities. In partnership with an NGO, the Ministry of Home Affairs provided and refurbished a building to house a toll-free hotline that enables children and adults to report cases of child trafficking, labor, and abuse. Staff members were hired and trained to serve as counselors and refer callers to government and NGO service providers. In June 2007, the Department of Home Affairs’ Children’s Services Unit hired an additional 180 Chief Children’s Officers; during the reporting period, several children’s officers posted throughout the country were involved in trafficking investigations and provided counseling and follow-up to child trafficking victims. Fifteen newly appointed Kenyan ambassador
s received a first-ever briefing on human trafficking at Kenya’s Foreign Service Institute
; preparations are underway for a comprehensive briefing from the Ministries of Labor and Home Affairs and IOM for mid-grade and junior officers on their responsibilities in assisting Kenyan victims abroad. The government encourages victims’ assistance in the investigation and prosecution of trafficking crimes, and ensures that they are not inappropriately incarcerated or otherwise penalized for unlawful acts committed as a direct result of being trafficked. The government does not, however, provide legal alternatives to the removal of victims to countries where they would face hardship or retribution.
, regularly reported cases of suspected human trafficking. In July 2007, the government established the National Steering Committee to Combat Human Trafficking under the leadership of the Ministry of Home Affairs. Its Sub-Committee appointed to draft a national action plan received two days of training from IOM, after which it convened three drafting sessions and presented an initial outline of the plan in October. Officers from the Ministries of Youth and Labor received anti-trafficking training at IOM workshops in November and December 2007. In July 2007, the Malindi District
Commission established and chaired a district-level committee on child sex tourism. In June 2007, a German
national was arrested and charged with sexually exploiting two trafficked children from Nyanza
at Likoni Children’s Home. There were no reports of the Kenyan government’s efforts to provide anti-trafficking training for its troops before deployment on international peacekeeping missions.
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of human trafficking
Human trafficking
Human trafficking is the illegal trade of human beings for the purposes of reproductive slavery, commercial sexual exploitation, forced labor, or a modern-day form of slavery...
. Kenya’s anti-trafficking efforts improved markedly over the reporting period, particularly through greater investigations of suspected trafficking cases.
Prosecution
The government failed to punish acts of trafficking during the reporting period, but demonstrated significantly increased law enforcement activity throughout the reporting period. Kenya does not prohibit all forms of trafficking, though it criminalizes the trafficking of children and adults for sexual exploitationSexual slavery
Sexual slavery is when unwilling people are coerced into slavery for sexual exploitation. The incidence of sexual slavery by country has been studied and tabulated by UNESCO, with the cooperation of various international agencies...
through its Sexual Offenses Act, enacted in July 2006, which prescribes penalties that are sufficiently stringent and commensurate with those for rape
Rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
; however, the law is not yet widely used by prosecutors. The Employment Act of 2007 outlaws forced labor and contains additional statutes relevant to labor trafficking. In September 2007, relevant government agencies provided comments on a draft comprehensive human trafficking bill to the Attorney General
Attorney General
In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general, or attorney-general, is the main legal advisor to the government, and in some jurisdictions he or she may also have executive responsibility for law enforcement or responsibility for public prosecutions.The term is used to refer to any person...
’s office, which continues to work with NGOs to further refine the bill. Police opened investigations into a number of significant cases during the reporting period, including the suspected trafficking of children by two school teachers in Kirinyaga District
Kirinyaga District
Kirinyaga District is an administrative district in the Central Province of Kenya. Its capital town is Kerugoya. The district has a population of 457,105 and an area of 1,478 km² .The district has four constituencies:*Mwea Constituency...
. In October 2007, police in Malindi
Malindi
Malindi is a town on Malindi Bay at the mouth of the Galana River, lying on the Indian Ocean coast of Kenya. It is 120 kilometres northeast of Mombasa. The population of Malindi is 117,735 . It is the capital of the Malindi District.Tourism is the major industry in Malindi. The city is...
arrested an Italian national on suspicion of human trafficking, facilitating child prostitution, and drug trafficking. Upon the conclusion of a separate police investigation, two women were charged with child defilement and child prostitution after luring a 14-year old girl to their home and forcing her into prostitution. Two children trafficked to Tanzania
Tanzania
The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...
for forced labor were rescued by Kenyan officials and placed in a children’s home; the investigation is ongoing as police believe the perpetrators are harboring an additional 40 children and six adults in forced labor. Six people in Bomet District
Bomet District
Bomet District is an administrative district in the Rift Valley Province of Kenya. Its capital town is Bomet. The district has a population of 382,794 and an area of 1,882 km² .The district has three electoral constituencies:...
and Nandi District
Nandi District
Nandi District is an administrative district in the Rift Valley Province of Kenya. Its capital town is Kapsabet. The district has a population of 578,751 .The topography of the district is dominated by the Nandi Hills...
of Rift Valley Province were charged with the sale and trafficking of children. The Police Commissioner
Police commissioner
Commissioner is a senior rank used in many police forces and may be rendered Police Commissioner or Commissioner of Police. In some organizations, the commissioner is a political appointee, and may or may not actually be a professional police officer. In these circumstances, there is often a...
worked with Interpol
Interpol
Interpol, whose full name is the International Criminal Police Organization – INTERPOL, is an organization facilitating international police cooperation...
to investigate the suspected trafficking of a Kenyan girl to The Netherlands and four children to Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
. The Ministry of Home Affairs began, for the first time, collecting information on trafficking cases from the police, media, foreign governments, and UNODC. Corruption
Corruption
Corruption usually refers to spiritual or moral impurity.Corruption may also refer to:* Corruption , an American crime film* Corruption , a British horror film...
among law enforcement authorities and other public officials hampered efforts to bring traffickers to justice. Some anti-trafficking activists made credible claims that, in certain areas, police officials were complicit in trafficking activities.
Protection
The government made efforts during the reporting period to improve protective services provided to trafficking victims. Kenyan officials removed 14 children from situations of trafficking in NandiNandi District
Nandi District is an administrative district in the Rift Valley Province of Kenya. Its capital town is Kapsabet. The district has a population of 578,751 .The topography of the district is dominated by the Nandi Hills...
and placed them in a children’s home. The government referred two additional trafficking victims to IOM
International Organization for Migration
The International Organization for Migration is an intergovernmental organization. It was initially established in 1951 as the Intergovernmental Committee for European Migration to help resettle people displaced by World War II....
for assistance during the reporting period, and ensured the well-being of a number of other victims. City Council Social Services Departments in Nairobi
Nairobi
Nairobi is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The city and its surrounding area also forms the Nairobi County. The name "Nairobi" comes from the Maasai phrase Enkare Nyirobi, which translates to "the place of cool waters". However, it is popularly known as the "Green City in the Sun" and is...
, Mombasa
Mombasa
Mombasa is the second-largest city in Kenya. Lying next to the Indian Ocean, it has a major port and an international airport. The city also serves as the centre of the coastal tourism industry....
, and Kisumu
Kisumu
Kisumu is a port city in western Kenya at , with a population of 355,024 . It is the third largest city in Kenya, the principal city of western Kenya, the immediate former capital of Nyanza Province and the headquarters of Kisumu County. It has a municipal charter but no city charter...
operated shelters to rehabilitate street children vulnerable to forced labor and commercial sexual exploitation; the government provided services to children exploited in the commercial sex industry at these facilities. In partnership with an NGO, the Ministry of Home Affairs provided and refurbished a building to house a toll-free hotline that enables children and adults to report cases of child trafficking, labor, and abuse. Staff members were hired and trained to serve as counselors and refer callers to government and NGO service providers. In June 2007, the Department of Home Affairs’ Children’s Services Unit hired an additional 180 Chief Children’s Officers; during the reporting period, several children’s officers posted throughout the country were involved in trafficking investigations and provided counseling and follow-up to child trafficking victims. Fifteen newly appointed Kenyan ambassador
Ambassador
An ambassador is the highest ranking diplomat who represents a nation and is usually accredited to a foreign sovereign or government, or to an international organization....
s received a first-ever briefing on human trafficking at Kenya’s Foreign Service Institute
Foreign Service Institute
The Foreign Service Institute is the United States Federal Government's primary training institution for employees of the U.S. foreign affairs community, preparing American diplomats and other professionals to advance U.S. foreign affairs interests overseas and in Washington...
; preparations are underway for a comprehensive briefing from the Ministries of Labor and Home Affairs and IOM for mid-grade and junior officers on their responsibilities in assisting Kenyan victims abroad. The government encourages victims’ assistance in the investigation and prosecution of trafficking crimes, and ensures that they are not inappropriately incarcerated or otherwise penalized for unlawful acts committed as a direct result of being trafficked. The government does not, however, provide legal alternatives to the removal of victims to countries where they would face hardship or retribution.
Prevention
The Government of Kenya made significant progress in publicly highlighting the dangers of human trafficking and taking steps to combat it during the reporting period. On numerous occasions, senior government officials, including the Vice President, spoke publicly about trafficking and attended many awareness-raising events, including the Day of the African Child in June. The Kenyan media, especially the government-owned Kenya Broadcasting CorporationKenya Broadcasting Corporation
Kenya Broadcasting Corporation is the state-run media organization of Kenya. It broadcasts in both English and Swahili, as well as in most local languages of Kenya. The corporation started its life in 1928 when Kenya was a British colony. In 1964, when Kenya became an independent country, the...
, regularly reported cases of suspected human trafficking. In July 2007, the government established the National Steering Committee to Combat Human Trafficking under the leadership of the Ministry of Home Affairs. Its Sub-Committee appointed to draft a national action plan received two days of training from IOM, after which it convened three drafting sessions and presented an initial outline of the plan in October. Officers from the Ministries of Youth and Labor received anti-trafficking training at IOM workshops in November and December 2007. In July 2007, the Malindi District
Malindi District
Malindi District is an administrative district in the Coast Province of Kenya. Its capital is the coastal town of Malindi. The district has a population of 544,303 . Malindi Town is increasingly becoming known as Kenya’s version of "Little Italy"...
Commission established and chaired a district-level committee on child sex tourism. In June 2007, a German
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
national was arrested and charged with sexually exploiting two trafficked children from Nyanza
Nyanza Province
Nyanza Province of Kenya, is one of Kenya's eight administrative provinces. It is located in the southwest part of Kenya around Lake Victoria. Nyanza includes part of the eastern edge of Lake Victoria and is inhabited predominantly by the Luo. There are also Bantu-speaking tribes such as the...
at Likoni Children’s Home. There were no reports of the Kenyan government’s efforts to provide anti-trafficking training for its troops before deployment on international peacekeeping missions.