It’s not my wish to be a city prostitute- Campus girl

​​“It’s not my wish to be a prostitute. I come from a very poor family, so the extra money I make from this goes a long way to sustain me"

It’s half past 7pm at a club along Baricho Road. It is not yet completely dark, but a few brave ‘flesh peddlers’ in revealing outfits are lurking in the shadows.
Among the ‘night nurses’ is *Angel, 22, who quickly joins us after a suggestive wink at the club entrance.
Angel is a second-year student at a local university, and has been juggling studies with sex work for a year. At the moment, she has a lot of time to make money since her classes are yet to begin.
She says that she hails from Makueni. “It’s not my wish to be a prostitute. I come from a very poor family, so the extra money I make from this goes a long way to sustain me,” explains Angel.
She adds that, “Surviving in the city is not easy. Some of my friends come from well-off families, thus the tight competition to fit in the flashy lifestyle. On a good night, I can make more than Sh5,000, but at the moment business is slow. Sometimes we stay the whole night without getting a single client.”
*Lynette, 24, is a form-two dropout who also plies her trade in the same area. She has been in the business for slightly over two years. She claims she found herself in the trade after her aunt in Kayole discovered she was pregnant and kicked her out.
“She brought me from Kisii sometimes in 2010 to assist her in the city since my family couldn’t raise money for my school fee,” she explains.
“I became pregnant and she kicked me out of the house. My boyfriend also took off on realising that I was pregnant. Luckily I got a friend who assisted me to ‘flush’ and that’s how I ended up here. Business has been good and I can’t complain. At the moment, I live in Githurai, but it’s here that I meet wealthy clients.”
Like other young girls in the trade, Lynette hopes to one day make it and leave the streets. But for now, it is business as usual.