Kenya's sextortion crisis: EACC report lays bare sex for jobs, services scandal
Kenyan law doesn’t explicitly define sextortion; cases are prosecuted under extortion or abuse of office.
In 2014, Mary* was desperately searching for a job, three years after graduating with a degree in Media and Communication from Egerton University.
At the time, she was working as a correspondent for a local media organisation, but she says the pay could hardly sustain her.
“I was at that point where I was almost giving up, having tried to get even a retainer without success,” she says.
Then she saw an advert from one of the county assemblies in the South Rift region for a Hansard reporter.
“I told myself that since I had previously interacted with the clerk, I would reach out so he could help me get the job,” she says.
But what followed shocked her.
“To my surprise, he asked me to meet him at a club at night and made it clear that afterwards we could spend time together. That’s when I knew he wanted to sleep with me. I walked away and never followed up,” she says.
The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) flags this kind of demand for sexual favours in exchange for a service, such as employment by a public official, as a worrying form of sextortion, yet no explicit law addresses it.
In its first-ever report providing gender-disaggregated data on corruption and its dynamics, released on Thursday in Nairobi, the EACC shows that gender-based corruption is prevalent in both the private and public sectors.
The survey indicates that women seeking services from public officials were more than twice as likely as men to be asked for sexual favours.
Among women service seekers, 82 per cent reported being asked for sexual favours at least once in the past 12 months, 84 per cent twice, 76 per cent three times, and 73 per cent more than three times within the same period.
For men, 18 per cent reported being asked for sexual favours once in the past 12 months, while 27 per cent reported being asked at least three times during the same period.
The practice is also rife in the public sector, where 80 per cent of officials who demanded sexual favours were men, compared to 20 per cent who were women.
The EACC is now calling for the review and strengthening of anti-corruption legislation to explicitly recognise sextortion as a punishable offence.
Kenya has previously attempted to address sextortion under the Sexual Offences Act (2006), but gaps remain in explicitly defining and prosecuting it as a form of corruption.
In 2024, Nairobi Woman Representative Esther Passaris, on behalf of concerned citizens, petitioned Parliament to explicitly define sextortion in law.
The petition sought amendments to the law and related statutes to criminalise sextortion, set penalties, and provide victim support.
The Public Petitions Committee, however, rejected the proposal last week. It argued that existing provisions, including sexual harassment (Section 23), abuse of authority (Section 24), and coercion (Section 43) under the Sexual Offences Act, as well as the Cybercrimes Act of 2018, already cover sextortion. Introducing new provisions, it said, would amount to duplication of the law.
Yet submissions to the committee painted a different picture. Acting Secretary of the Kenya Law Reform Commission, Peter Musyimi, told lawmakers that sextortion disproportionately affects vulnerable girls and women seeking basic services, such as national IDs, sanitary pads, education, training, or job placements.
He cited examples: sex-for-fish along the coast and lakeshores, women forced into sex to access water in informal settlements, female traders exploited by brokers and market officials, and female politicians targeted with image-based disinformation.
“These examples set out the urgent need for legislative intervention to include sextortion in the Statute Book,” he said.
Without a clear legal definition of sextortion, women and men remain vulnerable to exploitation by predators.
“Kenyan law doesn’t explicitly define sextortion. Cases are prosecuted under extortion (Penal Code), abuse of office, sexual harassment (if applicable), or cybercrime provisions,” Vivian Mwende, an advocate of the High Court, explained in an earlier interview.
From a legal perspective, she defined sextortion as a form of extortion with a sexual dimension, where sexual favours, images, or acts are demanded in exchange for a service, job, grade, opportunity, or to avoid harm.
“It is coercive quid pro quo: ‘sex in exchange for’ or ‘sex or else,’” she stated.
Sometimes, sextortion is prosecuted under extortion or blackmail laws rather than sexual harassment.
“If a perpetrator threatens to publish or share intimate photos or videos unless the victim complies with sexual demands, this falls under extortion or blackmail in the Penal Code (Cap 63) – Section 300 (attempts at extortion by threats), Section 299 (demanding by written threats),” she noted.
“The Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes Act (2018), Section 37, also criminalises the wrongful distribution of obscene or intimate images.”
However, gaps exist. For instance, quid pro quo outside employment or school settings is difficult to prosecute.
“Since the Sexual Offences Act, 2006, Section 23 on sexual harassment is limited to people in authority or holding public office, private actors may not fit,” she explained.
Where threats are used instead of persistent advances, Kenyan law again falls short.
“Sexual harassment law focuses on persistent, unwelcome advances, yet sextortion often involves a single coercive demand backed by a threat,” Vivian says. “That aligns more with blackmail or extortion.”
She added that when monetary or property angles are intertwined with sexual demands, courts may interpret sexual favours as a form of “advantage,” which the Penal Code explicitly criminalises if obtained through threats.
For victims, she advises that seeking legal help begins with preserving evidence.
“Do not delete messages, emails, or images, even if they’re distressing. They may be crucial proof,” Vivian advised.
“Take screenshots (with date, time, and sender’s details). Download and save chat histories (WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, Telegram, SMS, emails). Preserve metadata if possible. Save voice notes, videos, and call logs. Back up evidence securely so you don’t lose it if your device is damaged or hacked.”
If threats are online, she says victims should note URLs, usernames, and account IDs. Importantly, they should avoid negotiating, sending more images, or paying money, as this fuels further demands.
“Block the person after preserving the evidence and report to the police — the Directorate of Criminal Investigations Cybercrime Unit. Report sextortion as a criminal offence: extortion or blackmail under the Penal Code, cyber harassment under the Cybercrimes Act, or sexual harassment, depending on context,” she added.
Unlike Kenya, some countries explicitly outlaw sextortion.
In India’s Jammu and Kashmir, the Criminal Laws (Sexual Offences) (Amendment) Act, 2018 amended the Ranbir Penal Code to define sextortion as abuse of authority or fiduciary relationship to extort or demand sexual favours in exchange for benefits. The law criminalises a wide range of unwanted sexual activities, from suggestive conduct and explicit actions to intercourse, including those over electronic communication.
The punishment is rigorous imprisonment of three to five years plus a fine. Arrests have been made under this law. For example, in October 2022, a man was arrested after luring a girl via a WhatsApp group, sedating her, and forcing her into a sexual relationship.
Names changed to protect identity.
