THE MYSTERY OF KENYAN MASSAGE PARLORS

A case filed in 2022 has exposed how massage parlors are using the massage business as a ploy for sex trafficking and prostitution.

One Hanifa Nanyange was arrested in 2022 while running a massage parlor in Grace Villa Park and Restaurant in Nairobi. Many did not understand the nature of business being transacted between her and the many men who frequented the restaurant for drinks.

The case has revealed that Nanyange solicited girls working at the parlor to sleep with men who paid for the massage services.

Testifying before Kahawa principal magistrate a lady working at the parlor told the court that Nanyange had taken her from Uganda and brought her to Kenya for a good paying job.

On arrival she was taken to Ngara and employed at the massage parlor for Kshs 10,000. The lady said that she had been forced to have sex with clients who paid for massage services at the parlor.

Nanyange told the court that the lady had been her employee and had left for Uganda to look after her ailing parents. She said that the lady returned to Kenya because she could not find employment in Uganda.

The court found Nanyange guilty of sex trafficking and sentenced her 20years in jail or 20million as bail.