In a world where tragedy can strike unexpectedly, Pauline Kendi’s story stands as a testament to the resolute spirit of survival. In 2019, she found herself orphaned and alone, seeking refuge in the only family she had left—her aunt. Little did she know that this refuge would become a nightmare, as she was forced into a world of exploitation and abuse.
Kendi lost her father in 2019 and had to take shelter in her aunt’s house, since she was the only relative she knew.
And just before her father’s body turned cold, the aunt pimped her to male clients who would have sex with her for money.
“Three weeks after moving in with my aunt, she started pimping me to men. In return, she fed and sheltered me. A man visited us, and my aunt told me to go with him whenever I’m ready. The stranger handed my aunt an envelope, and we left in his car. I thought I was going to work at his place as a domestic worker, but we ended up in a hotel room,” Kendi narrates on Citizen Digital.
Shocked, she asked the man why they were in a hotel room. There, she was informed that he paid the aunt for transactional sex with her.
“The condition was I either have sex with him or he takes back his money. That was the first man I ever slept with. I was devastated. Once done, I pleaded with my aunt, but she gave me some lemons to use while taking a bath because another client was on his way,” she adds.
On that same day, she was introduced to two men who insisted that the only way she would get to stay in her house was if she slept with these men.
“By 7 p.m., the second client was already there. They would pay her aunt and tip her. The next day in the evening, another client showed up, and again I left with him for the night. All these men were older than me and only wanted me for my body,” she painfully recounts.
She recalls being in a lot of pain and relied on painkillers to soothe the pain. She got pregnant with one of the clients, and her aunt suggested she gets rid of the pregnancy.
A few months later, she felt unwell. Instead of being rushed to the hospital, her aunt gave her some medicine. She took them, and the pain became worse.
“I was so unwell, but my aunt insisted I go with another client. I informed the man that I was pregnant and I might be losing the baby. The client was kind enough to rush me to the hospital and paid for my bill and left,” Kendi adds.
According to her, she is grateful because that man saved her child. At the hospital, she was informed that she was five months pregnant and the medicine she had taken had not affected her unborn child. Kendi was discharged from the hospital and went back to her aunt’s house where she was again forced to sleep with men.
“I was about 8 months pregnant when my water broke,” she recalls having to fight with her aunt because she did not want to sleep with the man. According to her, she gave birth right at the doorstep as she tried to go to the hospital.
“Although the man was frustrated, he rushed me to the hospital. After four days, my son and I were discharged from the hospital and soon after the men showed up again. My biggest fear was that I did not have anywhere else to go, and that’s why I stayed,” Kendi notes.
This went on for a while, and the men kept showing up. Although she slept with the men, she never made an income; her aunt would take everything and in return, she would provide me with food and shelter.
When her child was two months old, she ran away but with no source of income, she could not feed her child and ended up going back to her auntie’s place.
Three years later, Kendi got a daughter due to prostitution. Tired and numb from the years of exploitation, the men no longer wanted her and complained about her services.
“I had the desire to start afresh. After all the years of selling my body, my aunt gave me Ksh.20,000 to go start my life with. I used the money to start a samosa business, but it has been a struggle,” she said.
According to her, she did not know anyone from the family apart from her auntie. Tragedy struck again when the woman she trusted with her son as she tried to work sold her son, taking her about two months to get her child back.
“I am so happy the police helped me, and I got back my child who had been sold to a woman in Karen. It was so traumatizing; the culprits eventually gave the information and the lady was tracked, and they were finally reunited.
In the interview, she appealed for help, noting that the years of forced sex have caused her to have damage and she cannot hold her urine.
“I also struggle with painful back pain, and I have to rely on painkillers. I ask Kenyans to help me educate my child and get my health back on track,” she adds.
