Why not?

Why anyone would legalise prostitution in Kenya defeats logic. The largest population of hypocrites in the world is not going to agree to a proposal to legalise an activity that tens of thousands of men engage in at least once in their lifetimes. Nor are their wives going to sit idly by and admit that for one reason or another they permit their husbands to seek comfort in the paid arms of another. George Aladwa, the Mayor of Nairobi, set the cat among the pigeons when he suggested that there are benefits to bringing the world's oldest profession into the light of day. The reaction from the legions of hypocrites was swift as it was overwhelmingly negative. The Mayor swiftly walked back his proposal and indicated that a robust programme of rounding up the women (and their clients) who carry on this profession and charging them in court would be initiated. Prosecutions, he assured us, would target both the prostitute and her clients.

However, we need to seriously consider whether the Mayor had legitimate reasons for making the proposal. The overwhelming opinion is that he did not. After all, no woman would want to admit on her tax returns that she makes her living on her back nor would her parents wish to admit to their friends that their daughters are prostitutes, walking the streets of Nairobi. I suspect that they would also be shunned in their respective houses of worship if they were to openly advertise that their profession included taking money for sexual services. I can almost see the men of the cloth railing against the moral decay that is the City of Nairobi.

Should be the State's job to police the morals of the people of Kenya? That is an argument that has been made since the British brought us the rule of law and Victorian values. WE police all manner of activities and behaviors. It is no longer acceptable for men to take the life of another; we leave that to the due process of law, where accused persons are charged in a court of law, prosecuted and if convicted, prosecuted. It is the same case with such moral questions as thievery or lying while under oath. So, it is right and proper that our society decides whether prostitution should be permitted or not.

We cannot run away from the fact that there are tens of thousands of women and young girls who earn their living from the world's oldest profession. They work under some of the worst conditions in the world, not knowing whether their clients will turn into monsters and commit some of the most unspeakable acts known to man. Women of the night have been maimed and murdered in the course of their work and society turns a blind eye to their plight because of its perceived moral superiority. It can be argued that it is hypocritical to criminalise this activity when we know for certain that men and women, even those who's moral probity is beyond reproach, employ the services of courtesans on a regular basis. A few years ago, prominent legislators were caught prowling the streets looking for the services of women of the night. Stories abound of the legions of college and university students who pay for their studies through profession. We know profession exists, we know (roughly) who engages in it, we know (roughly) who the customers are, and we know that it is not going away. So why not legalise or, for that matter, de-criminalise the profession?