Access to Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights of Underage Girls in Sex Work in Kenya.

Abstract

This research seeks to address access to sexual and reproductive health and rights of underage girls in sex work in Kenya. The study evaluates the status of girl’s involvement in sex work and the extent to which they access SRHR services. The study focuses on under girls in the urban informal habitats. It also examines the extent to which the current legislations and policies address SRHR challenges faced by this cohort. Statistics indicate that a significant population of underage girls are involved in transactional sex. The categories of underage and gender emerge as key determinants of inaccessibility and low quality of sexual reproductive health services among underage sex workers. This is in spite of the significant number of organizations offering these services. This disparity reveals that there is a significant relationship between the inaccessibility and low quality of sexual reproductive health services for underage sex workers and high prevalence of adolescent and teenage pregnancies in Kenya. It is also justifies the claim of a strong correlation between sexually transmitted infections (STIs), increased incidences of unsafe abortions among underage girls and structural unresponsiveness of sexual and reproductive health rights programs in Kenya. This study utilized two complimentary theories; the feminist theory and intersectionality theory. The feminist theory adds a female perspective to how gender-based structural discrimination impacts on the fundamental rights of under-age girls. The intersectionality theory helped in examining how the vulnerability of underage girls in sex work is also an outcome of the interplay between gender and other variables. The study uses desk review to collect data from secondary sources. This study found out that underage girls’ involvement in sex work is on the rise. The age of entry into sex work for girls is as low as ten years. Holmstrom et al. (2019), argues that most people's first experience of selling sex happens during their teens. This is indicative of an institutional failure beginning from the African culture and extending to national laws and international law and policy frameworks. This study notes that poverty, child-headed families, illiteracy, unemployment, drug and substance abuse, and dysfunctional families are factors that predispose underage girls to engage in sex as work. The study further established that the existence of elaborate international, regional and national legislations and policies on SRHR have not guaranteed access to SRHR services for underage girls in sex work. This research recommends the harmonization of SRHR laws and the related policies with the existing operational programs. The designing of policy and legal framework should further give 6 primacy to serving the interest of girl children. It should also address the drivers pushing underage girls to sex work. Finally, there is a need for a collaborative approach by all duty bearers to ensure that these girls have access to adequate information about SRHR services.