Tourism and the Sex Trade in Kenya’s Coastal Region

Faced with economic hardships, some Kenyans have devised various ways of survival including selling sex. This paper examines the relationship between tourism and the sex trade in Kenya’s coastal region. A questionnaire survey was conducted among commercial sex workers in the region in 2002. Analyses of the survey data reveal that a linkage exists between tourism and the growth of the sex trade in the region. The paper examines the interrelations between the two activities, and gives the first detailed and systematic treatment of the subject in Kenya. A complex operational interdependence between commercial sex workers and tourism is revealed. The conclusion discusses the role of sustainable tourism concepts in any drive to reduce the harmful impacts of sex tourism in the region.