JULY 25, 2026
Women in Nairobi's Kibera slum face sexual coercion when trying to buy water, advocates push Parliament for specific law
In Kibera, the largest informal settlement in Africa and located just miles from central Nairobi, women who cannot afford water from private vendors face harassment, assault, and coercion into exchanging sex for water — a practice advocates call "sextortion." Kenya's constitution guarantees access to clean water, but public pipes do not reach most Kibera households, leaving residents dependent on informal vendors and water cartels. In 2024, Nairobi lawmaker Esther Passaris petitioned Parliament to create a specific law against sextortion; a parliamentary committee rejected the petition in October 2025.
Kibera, home to hundreds of thousands of residents, has no formal piped water infrastructure for most households. Residents buy water by the jerrycan from kiosks, street carts, or storage tanks controlled by private vendors, at prices that fluctuate and can strain household budgets. Water becomes scarcer and more expensive during droughts, which have grown more frequent, and advocates say the risk of sexual violence rises during these shortages.
The Kenya Water and Sanitation Civil Society Network (KEWASNET), which runs a program called Stop Sex for Water since 2014, documents abuse linked to water access. Joan Kones, a project lead at KEWASNET, said "sextortion thrives where services are scarce and accountability is weak." Malesi Shivaji, CEO of KEWASNET, said the practice is "so normalized that even survivors say they'll be perceived as villains if they talk about what happened to them." According to Water.org, roughly 19 million people — about a third of Kenya's population — lack reliable access to clean water, with the largest gaps in rural areas and urban informal settlements.
Two Kibera residents, Saly Amutwayi and Mariam Hassan, described experiences of attempted assault and coercion while trying to buy water. Neither reported the incidents to police, citing fear of retaliation, social stigma, and a belief that authorities would not act. Amutwayi said neighbors who intervened told her to leave it, since "nothing had ultimately happened." Hassan said she told only her brother.