Multiple women have reported that Kenyan embassy officials took advantage of their vulnerable situations, further compounding the abuse they experienced abroad.**
Kenyan Domestic Workers Face Dual Exploitation: Seeking Help Turns Into a Nightmare**
Kenyan Domestic Workers Face Dual Exploitation: Seeking Help Turns Into a Nightmare**
Reports reveal that embassy officials in Saudi Arabia demanded sexual favors from desperate Kenyan maids seeking assistance.**
When Selestine Kemoli, a Kenyan maid suffering abuse in Saudi Arabia, sought refuge at her country’s embassy in Riyadh, she was met with a shocking betrayal instead. In 2020, Kemoli described enduring horrific treatment from her employer, which included physical assaults and sexual violence. In dire need of help to return home to her children, she turned to the embassy’s labor attaché, Robinson Juma Twanga, only to find him adding to her plight with demands of a sexual nature.
Kemoli recalls Twanga stating, “You are beautiful,” and then offering assistance with a disturbing condition: “I will sleep with you.” Her experience was echoed by other women who, fleeing similar abuses, reported that Twanga and other embassy officials pressured them for sexual favors or payment as a precondition to securing their tickets home.
Lawyers representing these women say these instances of exploitation are not isolated. A troubling pattern has emerged, wherein women who turn to their embassies for aid find themselves targeted by officials who exploit their desperation. This systemic abuse highlights a dark reality for many East African workers abroad, compounding their suffering during an already traumatic time.
Kemoli recalls Twanga stating, “You are beautiful,” and then offering assistance with a disturbing condition: “I will sleep with you.” Her experience was echoed by other women who, fleeing similar abuses, reported that Twanga and other embassy officials pressured them for sexual favors or payment as a precondition to securing their tickets home.
Lawyers representing these women say these instances of exploitation are not isolated. A troubling pattern has emerged, wherein women who turn to their embassies for aid find themselves targeted by officials who exploit their desperation. This systemic abuse highlights a dark reality for many East African workers abroad, compounding their suffering during an already traumatic time.
