Nairobi Woman Representative Esther Passaris has proposed amendments to the penal code to criminalise sextortion in the country.
Sextortion is the practice of extorting money or sexual favours from someone by threatening to reveal evidence of their sexual activity.
In Kenya, sextortion has assumed a different form where women and girls are pressured into sex in exchange for necessities like water, sanitary pads, employment or promotions at work.
The perpetrators, however, walk away scot-free as Kenya lacks laws that recognise or define sextortion as a form of sexual exploitation, harassment and corruption.
The only available law is in regard to extortion.
Section 300 of the penal code states that “any person who, with the intent to extort or gain anything from any person accuses or threatens to accuse any person of committing any felony or misdemeanour...is guilty of a felony and the offender is liable to imprisonment for 14 years".
Passaris says she has chosen to take on the silent pandemic by introducing legislation that criminalises sextortion.
“Sextortion is silent corruption where individuals in positions of authority abuse their power to demand sexual favours in return for benefits they control,” she said on Tuesday.
The legislator spoke when she appeared before the National Assembly Justice and Legal Affairs Committee to present submissions in support of her legislative proposal.
The Penal Code (Amendment) Bill, 2024 which she tabled in Parliament months ago seeks to amend the principal Act to introduce the offence of sextortion in Kenya.
“Examples include sex for water, fish, grades and work among others. Sextortion mostly affects women and girls, who often do not report it because of stigma, reprisals and shame,” the MP said.
In early May, Passaris tabled in Parliament a petition for debate urging amendments to Kenya’s Penal Code to specifically include sextortion as a criminal offence.
The MP has been at the forefront in pushing for sextortion solutions with water sector actors in response to instances reported in the water sector.
“Demands for sex in exchange for essential resources [and] services opportunities is both an infringement of human rights and a significant obstacle to achieving development goals,” her petition states in part.
“Take any other measures necessary and appropriate in the circumstances of this petition to address the menace of sextortion to protect the rights and dignity of all Kenyans.”
Several Kenyans supported the initiative but one quipped: “That's feminism and ill-thought, why are you excluding boy child and yet they're bullied too by older women in exchange for favours, the Bill should be a double edged sword.”