British Soldiers In Kenya Allegedly Having Raw Sex With Prostitutes During Initiation Rituals

A report published in the UK-based mail reveals that senior British soldiers have been accused of initiating recruits deployed at the Nanyuki military base into having unprotected sex with prostitutes hence exposing them to sexually transmitted infections. As part of the initiation process, the new recruits can decide whether to wear a condom or not, at the toss of a coin.

A report written by the British Medical Journal Military Health says, “The more senior soldiers would flip a coin – heads you could use a condom, tails you could not,” These claims have reportedly raised alarm to Defence bosses based in the UK  due to HIV/AIDs prevalence in Kenya wherein affects 5% of Kenya’s populace compared with the UK’s 0.2%.

The report warned of the growing patronage of prostitutes near the British base in Nanyuki with services offered at barber shops, according to a senior officer who sought barber services. Neil Wigan, the British High Commissioner to Kenya indicated that the rules have tightened in recent years terming the report as “historic in nature”. Neil told Nation, “The article seems to stem from a new research article just published, but which actually relies only on interviews with nine soldiers,”

According to the report, the risk of catching an STI from a prostitute does not only have the potential to reduce the effectiveness of the unit but also has a ‘global reputational risk’. Every year, about 10,000 British troops are deployed to the country to perform live firing exercises for about two months.

Soldiers were interviewed on the use of the prostitutes who basked outside the base for a study published in the British Medical Journal Military Health. The Ministry of Defence spokesman reiterated that all sexual activity that involves power abuse including buying sex either in the UK or abroad. He shared, “We are committed to preventing sexual exploitation in any form,”