Sex for Fish

Kenya, Lake Victoria, Asat Beach 2012

from the series: “people in crisis”

„Sex for Fish“, Is a practice within some Kenyan fishing communities in which young female fish sellers develop sexual relationships with fishermen and middlemen in exchange for fish is exposing a new generation to HIV. According to statistics from the United Nation‘s Food and Agriculture Organization, HIV prevalence among Kenyans in the fishing industry was 30.5% in 2006. IRIN reports that the practice, known as jaboya, often is the only way for fish traders to make a living. In addition, competition for a „catch that is often less than plentiful means offering their own bodies is no longer enough, so desperate traders have now resorted to making available their younger“ female relatives -- many of whom are younger than age 18 according to IRIN.