The Nairobian has unearthed a scheme where poor teenage girls are trafficked from villages in India and Nepal to
Nairobi on a tourist visa, but are then being subjected to sexual
slavery by rich Asian businessmen.
The girls are recruited to come to Kenya to be part of sensual Mujra dancers that many male Asians love
to watch in the evenings. But apart from sexually charged dancing, the girls, who many can’t speak English, also provide extras.
So popular has been the Mujra culture in Kenya that so far, more than five places
in Nairobi
offer the dances. The dances take place every day and the joints are
usually filled to the rafters. In all the joints, the minimum number of
women, who can perform, is six but usually, 15 women is the ideal number
to dance all through the night. In some places, they have special rooms
where the woman can give a reveller a dance, as she strips naked. The
women also offer extras is the client is willing to pay for it. So
secretive is the underhand dance deals that only loyal and trusted
customers pay and get the extra services of
the dancer.
In
some joints, exclusively set up for Mujra, customers sit on couches in
poorly lit rooms and watch the ladies dance. The bright light is focused
on the ladies, and not on the clients.
If a man sees a lady
he likes,
he will give a tip to a handler, who will then place a flower necklace
on the lady’s neck. The men are not permitted to touch the girls By the
end of the evening, the lady who has the highest number of flowers
round her neck is the favorite amongst men. Men will then launch a bid
for the lady, and the man with the highest bid will take the girl for a
private dance as well as extras.
After the men with money have
battled it out and one of them takes the girl, the rest of the men will
pick a girl of their choice and negotiate the rates with the pimp.
The
Nairobian can exclusively reveal that most of these woman are shipped
from India on a tourist visa, and the mujra business is a cover for a
thriving trafficking business.
In May 15, 2005, the Indian
government banned bars offering Mujra dancing and more than 800,000
erotic dancers were rendered jobless. Social intolerance for
institutions that exploit female sexuality led to the ban since the
dances were fronts for human trafficking and prostitution.
“It is a perfect opportunity for astute businessmen. Many
Indian men
don’t like visiting local prostitutes, and the high end Indian
prostitutes are very expensive, so it is easier to get the women into
the country, pimp them out to Asian men who are willing to pay” reveals
our source.
The girls enter Kenya on tourist visas to visit their
relatives, but end up working in the secret brothels as dancers and
prostitutes. The businessmen
organise
everything for the girls, including accommodation, and to recoup the
cost spent on the them, the pimps decide who the girls sleep with and
how much they are paid.
The best joints are known through word of
mouth. According to our source, most of the Kenyan businessmen have
scouts in India who pick girls from poor families and promises them a
better life in Kenya. The scout then sends pictures of the girls.
Sometimes the businessmen go to India and pick out the girls they like.
In
some clubs in Westlands and Parklands area, the girls aren’t forced
into prostitution but have an agreement with the club owners. Since the
girls can dance, the club owner will procure men for them, and they
share the money. On a Friday evening, at an establishment in Westlands,
the Mujra dancers sensuously gyrate to the music, dressed in flashy
tradition Indian
womens wear as others, waiting for the turns to dance, pose and smile flirtatiously.
Clients
can request songs to which the women will dance to. Each woman dances
for less than ten minutes and they take turns to dance all through the
night. Many revellers shower the dancers with money. The atmosphere
reeks of sexual anticipation.
Most clients are oblivious to the
fact that after the dance, loyal clients who can pay for extra services
get preferential treatment in rooms behind the joints. The girls will
dance while stripping, and eventually have sex with the client. The
payment is made to the owner of the club who in turn pays the girls.
Some of the girls don’t speak English and are locked up during the day.
The Nairobian has also learnt that their passports are held by their
‘ownrs’. In the normal setting, after three months, the girls, with
accrued savings from clients, goes back to Indian and a new batch of
eager young girls are brought in.
However, a regular Mujra
devotee says the dances are purely for show, and the women never remove
their clothes. He insists that it is purely an Indian traditional dance
and there is no sex involved whatsoever.
“You are not even allowed to touch them, if
you touch them security will throw you out” The Mujras in India in the old days were prostitutes, but the ones who come to Nairobi
are just dancers. If there is more that goes on, then I am not aware
because it must be very secretive,” he says. He reveals that most of the
Mujra dens are kept in business by Asian men who are ‘addicted’ to the
dances. However, others say the ‘tradition’ has over the years been
abused.
“Kikuyus love going to Mike Rua concerts, Luos will go to
Osogo Winyo, so Indians also love their music and traditions, and for
us who grew up in Kenya, local Indian women don’t do such dances. That’s
why they are imported from India,” adds our source. He, however,
acknowledges that most of the girls don’t have work permits and there
are question marks about how they are brought to Kenya.
“There is
no standard mijra joint. Its here today, gone tomorrow. It is because
of problems with the police and immigration.The lack of consistency is
the main reason why I no longer go for Mujra” says another source, who
did not want to be named.
The dances, known as Mujra emerged
three hundred years back. Mujra was an art, perfected through constant
practice and during Mughal rule in India, in places such as Jaipur, the
tradition of performing Mujra was a family art and often passed down
from mother to daughter amongst Muslim practitioners. Mujra was
traditionally performed at palaces and in special houses called kothas.
The profession was a cross between art and exotic dance, with the
performers often serving as courtesans amongst Mughal royalty or wealthy
patrons.
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