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Transcript/ScriptKenya Fish App / Women (TV) HEADLINE: New Kenyan Fish Marketing App Aims to Reduce Sexual Exploitation of Women Fishmongers TEASER: Women fishmongers can now fend off sex-for-fish exploitation
PUBLISHED AT: Thursday, 04/28/2022 12:05 pm BYLINE: Ruud Elmendorp CONTRIBUTOR: DATELINE: Kisumu VIDEOGRAPHER: Ruud Elmendorp VIDEO EDITOR:
PRODUCER: Henry Hernandez SCRIPT EDITORS: BR, MAS VIDEO SOURCE (S): All VOA PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB __ TV _X_ RADIO _X_ TRT: 2:57 VID APPROVED BY: BR TYPE: TVPKG EDITOR NOTES: A companion radio piece will also be available))
((INTRO))
[[ An application developed in Kenya to improve the marketing of fish caught in Lake Victoria is also helping women fishmongers fend off sex-for-fish exploitation by fishermen. The Aquarech app allows traders to buy fish without having to negotiate with fishermen – as Ruud Elmendorp reports from Kisumu, Kenya.]] ((NARRATOR))
Karen Omondi, a mother of six, trades fish in Kisumu along Lake Victoria. She’s picking up goods she ordered on an app called Aquarech. It allows her to avoid contact with fishermen who may demand sex in return for fish.
It’s a problem faced by women fish traders, especially those who have fallen into debt to fishermen, says Omondi who wanted her face blurred because of the emotional topic.
((Karen Omondi, Fish Trader (Female in Swahili) ((*Face Blurred*)) “You build up a lot of debts and it’s difficult to pay it back. So, you keep saying you pay later, but you end up repaying the debt by having “Jaboya” sex with the fisher.”
((NARRATOR))
“Jaboya” means customer – and this practice has been rampant on the shores of Lake Victoria. Women advocates say the problem is driven, in part, by poverty and diminishing fish stocks caused by overfishing.
Some 30 per cent of the women fish traders are involved in “Jaboya” say officials with the Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute.
((Fonda Awuor, Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute (in English)
“Especially the widowed ones. They have to fend for their families, so they would feel they need to be involved in this phenomenon to support their families, especially in female-headed households.”
((NARRATOR))
With cage fishing increasing the supply of fish to sell, the incidents of sexual exploitation have come down over the past ten years, according to the research institute. Officials also predict the Aquarech app will bring the numbers down even further.
Developer Dave Okech says he designed the app to improve fish marketing and is surprised to see how it has impacted “Jaboya.”
((Dave Okech, Aquarech Founder (in English) ))
“We have been amazed to see what impact the innovation has had, in terms of how many women are now able to trade on fish in a free and open environment without subjecting themselves to the dehumanizing act of sex for fish trade.” ((NARRATOR))
Launched during the COVID pandemic, Aquarech says it has about 150 women fishmongers in Kisumu using the app.
The company hopes to expand to neighboring counties and aims to enroll some two thousand fish traders by the end of this year.
As for Karen Omondi, she has set up a fish stand in her village. And she says, she’s relieved she can sell her fish without fear of being sexually exploited.
((Ruud Elmendorp, for VOA News, Kisumu, Kenya))
NewsML Media TopicsArts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
NetworkVOA
Location (dateline)Kisumu
Embargo DateApril 28, 2022 16:48 EDT
Byline((Ruud Elmendorp, for VOA News, Kisumu, Kenya))
Brand / Language ServiceVoice of America - English
