Kenya: Booming Tourism Boosts Juvenile Sex Trade

Malindi — Sixteen-year-old Judy (not her real name) sits in a nightclub sipping beer with two other girls in this coastal resort town popular with foreign tourists thanks to its numerous beach hotels and villas.

She is one of a rising number of under-age girls who have taken to commercial sex due to poverty or the allure of easy money from tourists. "I had no choice, I had dropped out of school, I had no job and my parents have four other children to take care of," said Judy. Her 58-year-old European boyfriend has bought her a car, pays her rent and gives her money to support her family.

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