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-Nakuru County Police Commander said they have beefed-up security in commercial sex zones.
-The sex workers representative regrets the trade is illegal in the country, hence no laws to protect them.
-Two Nakuru MPs have already pledged support for legalising the trade.
Nakuru County Police Commander Hassan Barua has said that they have beefed up police patrols in the county’s commercial sex zones, following recent reports of killings targeting sex workers.
These include Kanu Street, where the officer said they have intensified security so as to protect the women involved in sex trade from attacks.
“We have increased our patrols in Kanu Street and within Nakuru town to ensure the security of the public including the sex workers,” Barua was quoted by Nakuru County News as saying in his office on Monday February 1, 2016.
The police commander noted that sex workers have equal right to enjoy security in any environment in the county, and called for leads from anyone with information on those attacking and killing sex workers in the area.
“We are also depending on the sex workers and intelligence officers to provide information that could lead to arrest of people targeting the sex workers,” he stated.
READ ALSO: County Arrests Over 300 Prostitutes, Subjects Them To Forced HIV Testing
Representative of the more than 4,000 sex workers in Nakuru Daisy Achieng said they face such challenges because there are no laws to protect them, since sex trade is illegal in Kenya.
Regretting that at least ten sex workers in the area had been murdered in cold blood within weeks of each other, Achieng called on the government to legalise the trade, hence have laws in place to ensure their safety.
“We are not committing any crime and that is why we need laws that could recognise commercial sex workers as human beings who are only trying to earn a living,” she was quoted in the report.
Achieng added that this would also be important because the sex workers, who she said are engaging in an income generating activity free of coercion, contribute to the county’s economy through the hospitality industry.
“We bring clients to clubs and hotels, and they drink and use their rooms. That is business, that consequently boosts the county’s revenue kitty,” she said.
Two Nakuru MPs, David Gikaria and Samuel Arama, have already voiced their support for legalisation of the trade, saying the sex workers are at high risk of attacks since they operate in dark alleys for fear of arrests.
Ashton Wachira, a suspected of the killings, was on Monday remanded until February 8, as High Court judge Maureen Odero before whom he was supposed to appear was not in court.
Judge Odero had on January 18 directed that a mental check be done on the suspect after an apparent outburst during the mention of his case.
Wachira was arrested after he was reportedly found ferrying the body of a 28-year-old sex worker Maureen Wanjiru in a tuktuk.
