Empower women to deter sex work vice

For all that is secret will eventually be brought into the open, and everything that is concealed will be brought to light and made known to all.

When St. Luke, an ancient physician reflected this in Luke 8:17, estimated to be around 70-90 AD, and reviewed well into the 2nd century, little did those who lived then think it would describe night activities brought to the broad daylight in the 21st Century.

On Monday, a State agency tasked to lead advocacy for the prevention and control of syndemic diseases, revealed about an alarming number of sex-workers plying the trade by the day.

The National Syndemic Diseases Control Council (NSDCC) also called for concerted efforts to address the growing menace, which now threatens the gains made in the fight against HIV/Aids.

In what should be of concern to policy makers and religious leaders, it was revealed the growing number of day sex workers were wives and parents. This is a group that leaves their houses at the same time as their spouses and children to work and school, respectively.

Unemployment, poverty and Gender-Based Violence, peer influence and broken marriages have been cited as the reasons driving these members of society into the illicit trade. To a large extent, the practice is a big threat to the institution of family and value system.

That is why it is pertinent that government policies, services and awareness-raising activities are urgently needed to address this growing vice.

State actors and the NGOs must take the conversation around empowerment of women outside conference rooms of five-star hotels in cities and newspapers columns to the countryside and urban poor who face the brunt of want, discrimination and violence that is pushing them to vice.

The campaign should involve rural women who are victims because there are no alternatives for them. In Nyeri for instance, NSDCC revealed that women, leave their homes as early as 8am and engage in sex work through the day, and return at 5pm when schools are done for the day.

Efforts should be made to organize the poor and disadvantaged women from the lowest social levels around the whole issue of sexual discrimination and encourage them to overcome the problem collectively.

The government can also ensure the empowerment of women- socially, mentally and economically. It should be the responsibility of everybody to create opportunities that will deter women from the vice.