The secret photo of BBC Africa Eye exposes Maai Mahiu’s “Madam”

An investigation into the BBC Africa eyes revealed how women, known as Madam, have participated in children at 13 in prostitution in Kenya.

In the transit city of Mai Mahiu, in the Kenyan valley of the rif, trucks and trucks pour the streets day and night, transporting goods and people across the country in Uganda, Rwanda, South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The key transport center, just 50 km (31 miles) east of the capital, Nairobi, is known for prostitution, but is also a breeding place for sexual abuse of children.

Two undercover investigators posing for sexual workers who want to learn how to become a ma’am, spent months earlier this year, penetrating sexual trade in the city.

Their secret shooting reveals two different women who say they know it is illegal and then introduce investigators with minor girls into the sexual industry.

The BBC gave all its evidence to the Kenyan police in March. The BBC believes that the lady has moved location since then. Police said the women and the young girls we shot cannot be traced. There have been no arrests to date.

Disorders are rare in Kenya. For successful persecution, police need children. Often, vulnerable minors are afraid to testify too much.

The BBC cereals, shot on the street in the dark, showed a woman who calls herself the Nambura, laughing as she says, “They are still children, so it’s easy to manipulate them by simply giving them sweets.”

“Prostitution is a monetary harvest in Mai Mahiu; trucks are generally feeding him. And so we take advantage. She has been normalized in Maa Mahiu,” she explained, adding that there is a girl of 13 years who has already worked for six months.

“It becomes very risky when dealing with minors. You can’t just bring them out openly into the city. I only get them out at night in a big secret,” Nyambura said.

The act of prostitution with adult consent is not explicitly criminalized under the national legislation of the Kenyan language, but is prohibited by many municipal regulations. He is not banned in Maa Mahiu, who is part of Nakuro County.

According to the Penal Code, it is illegal to live from the profit of prostitution, or as a sex worker or a third party, facilitating or profit from prostitution.

The traffic or sale of minors under the age of 18 has a sentence in prison ranging from 10 years to life.

Asked if customers wear condoms, Nyambura replied that he usually made sure he had protection, but the strange no.

“Some children want to earn more (so don’t use them). Some are forced (not to use them),” she said.

In another meeting, she led the undercover investigator to a house where three young girls sat on a sofa, another in a firmly supported chair.

Nyambura then left the room, allowing the investigator to talk to the girls only.

They have described repeatedly about sex, daily.

“Sometimes you have sex with many people. Your clients force you to do unthinkable things,” said one of the girls.

There are no recent statistics on the number of children forced to work in the sexual industry of Kenya. In 2012, US State Department Report on Human Rights Practices in Kenya It cites an estimate of 30,000, a number derived from the Kenyan government and now a non -existent non -governmental organization (NGO), eradicates the children’s prostitution in Kenya.

Other studies are focused on specific areas, especially along the country’s coast – known for its tourist resorts. A report of 2022 For the Global NGO Fund for the termination of modern slavery, it was found that nearly 2500 children were forced to work in sexual affairs in the Crylifi and qualifier.

A second undercover investigator gained the confidence of a woman who called Chepleo and had numerous meetings with her.

She said the sale of young girls means she can “make her living and be comfortable.”

“You do this kind of business on a big secret because it is illegal,” she said.

“If anyone says they want a young girl, I ask them to pay me. We also have our regular ones who always come back for them.”

Cheptoo took an undercover investigator to a club to meet four of his girls. The jerk said he was 13 years old. The others said they were 15.

It opened for the profit it earned from them, saying that every 3000 Kenyan shillings ($ 23; £ 17) girls deliver, its share is 2,500 shillings ($ 19; £ 14).

At another meeting, at a house in Mai Mahiu, Cheptoo left the investigator undercover with two minor girls.

One of them told her that she had average sex with five men a day.

Asked what happened if she refused to have sex without a condom, she said she had no choice.

“I have to (to have sex without a condom). I will be banished and I have nowhere to run. I am an orphan.”

People outside the UK can watch here

Kenya’s sexual industry is a complex, gloomy world in which both men and women are involved in facilitating childhood prostitution.

It is not known how many children are forced to work in Mai Mahiu, but in this small town of about 50,000 people, it is easy to find them.

A former sexual worker, known as a “girl”, now provides refuge in Mai Mahiu for girls who have escaped sexual abuse.

The 61-year-old has been working in the sexual industry for 40 years-first turns out to be on the street in his early twenty years. She was pregnant and had her three young children with her after running away from her husband for domestic violence.

At her wooden kitchen table in a bright salon in front of her house, she introduced the BBC with four young women who were all forced to do sexual affairs by Madame in Mai Mahiu when they were children.

Every girl shared such stories about broken families or abuse at home – they came to Mai Mahiu to escape, only to be abused.

Michelle described how at the age of 12 she lost her parents from HIV and was driven out on the streets where she met a man who gave her somewhere to live and began to sexually abuse her.

“I literally had to pay him in kind to teach me. I reached my limit, but I had no one,” she said.

Two years later, a woman turned to her, who turned out to be a lady in Mai Mahiu and forced her to do sexual work.

Lillian, who is now 19, also lost his parents at a very young age. She left her uncle, who filmed her in the shower and sold the images to her friends. Voyeurism soon became rape.

“It was my oldest day. Then I was 12.”

When she escaped, she was raped again by a truck driver who took her to Mai Mahiu. It was here, like Michelle, where a woman approached her, forcing her to do sexual work.

The short life of these young women is fueled by violence, neglect and abuse.

Now, placed by a girl, they are learning new skills – two in a photographic studio and two in a beauty salon.

They also help the girl with her community work in the community.

Nakuru County has one of the highest percentages of HIV infection in Kenya, and the baby, supported by the USAID US Aid Agency, is on a mission to teach people about the risks of unprotected sex.

She has an office in the Karagita Community Health Center, near Lake Nayasha, where she works, providing condoms and tips.

However, with the decision of US President Donald Trump to withdraw USAID funding, her job programs are about to stop.

“We will be unemployed since September,” she told the BBC World Service, adding how worried about young women and girls who depend on her.

“You see how vulnerable these children are. How would they survive themselves? They still heal.”

The US government did not respond to comments on this investigation on the likely impact of its reduction in funding. USAID officially closed last month.

So far, Lillian is focused on studying photography and recovering from abuse.

“I’m no longer afraid, because the girl is there for me,” she said. “It helps us bury the past.”