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Parents who force their daughters into marriage or sexual exploitation could spend the rest of their lives in jail.

A new law which took effect on Monday says any person who forces another into marriage or prostitution will go to jail for not less than 30 years or pay a fine of not less than Sh30 million or both and if the crime is repeated, a life sentence is slapped.

Gender, Children and Social Development minister Naomi Shaban put the Act into effect after sharp criticism of the country’s weak human trafficking laws in the 2012 Trafficking in Persons Report.

The new law covers a wide range of situations including child prostitution and luring Kenyans to dubious work.

While it metes out punishment to offenders, including media houses which disclose the identities of victims, the law is generous to affected people who will be compensated for their ordeal.

A fund for victims of trafficking will be set up to help return the person to their home, resettle and re-integrate.

The global 2012 Trafficking in Persons Report Kenya says the country is a transit point and destination for human trafficking, with women and children especially being subjected to forced labour and sex exploitation.

It says brothel-based child prostitution is on the rise in Migori, Homa Bay and Kisii counties, particularly at markets on the Tanzania border.
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“Vehicles transporting khat to Somalia return with Somali girls and women who end up in brothels in Nairobi or Mombasa,” it says.

Last year, the report says, the recruitment of women for overseas domestic work increased in Mombasa, Nairobi’s Eastleigh estate and major towns in Central Province.

“In 2011, gay and bisexual Kenyan men recounted being lured from universities with promises of overseas jobs, only to be forced into prostitution in Qatar.”