11 December 2007
Nairobi — Hoteliers want a new law enacted to allow State inspectors to access private villas and homes to fight child prostitution.
The Kenya Association of Hotelkeepers and Caterers (KAHC) claimed there was a possibility of child sex abusers fleeing from mainstream hotels and finding new hideouts in the villas, small lodgings and private homes.
KAHC Coast branch chairman, Mr Mohamed Hersi, also urged the government to bar 29 listed international child sex abusers from entering the country. Their names and descriptions are on the internet, he said.
A recent report by United Nations International Child Education Foundation reveals that today, major hotels account for four per cent of child sex tourism while private villas and homes account for 12 per cent.
Single tourists coming for holidays should not be allowed to get in their hotel rooms with local young female partners "because Kenya was gradually becoming a sex tourism destination." "Hotels should take the initiative to bar these tourists at the reception area. Let it be made clear to them that Kenya is not a sex tourism destination and that we don't condone child sex practices," said Mr Hersi.
He spoke to hotel managers and employees at Coral Key Beach Resort in Malindi during the second signing of the Code of Conduct for the protection of Children from Commercial Sexual Exploitation in Travel and Tourism by 21 hotels from the North Coast at the weekend.
Regional Unicef advisor, on child protection, Ms Margie de Monchy regretted that child sex exploitation was a growing industry all over the world Kenya among those with a thriving market.
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