British sex workers took to the streets in London to protest an alleged delayed justice in the case of Agnes Wanjiru who was murdered by a British soldier in 2012.
The workers from three sex worker organizations; Sex Workers Advocacy and Resistance Movement (SWARM), English Collective of Prostitutes (ECP) and the All African Women’s Group (AAWG) marched to the United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defence headquarters on Friday to demand justice for the slain colleague as the world marked the International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers.
“Agnes Wanjiru was a mother supporting a young child. Her heartbreaking death is a stark reminder that our lives do not matter to those in power,” one of the protesters said in a live recording online.
“We are here to demand justice for Wanjiru, for the British soldier to be extradited in Kenya to face the Kenyan court and for the decriminalization of sex work,” she added.
Agnes who was also a member of a local sex workers’ organisation, Laikipia Peer Educators, was murdered by a British soldier in Nanyuki in 2012.
With red umbrellas and posters of Agnes labelled ‘They are literally getting away with murder’, the group shouted in unison ‘No bad woman, just bad laws’ and ‘outlaw poverty not prostitution’.
‘Don’t put us on the street, it’s 10x more dangerous’, ‘Tunataka haki ya Agnes Wanjiru sasa!’ other placards read.
While addressing the National Assembly Defence Committee last month, Defence CS Eugene Wamalwa rubbished claims that the government was trying to cover up the murder case.
Wamalwa said that the Kenyan government is working with the British government in joint efforts to ensure the culprits face murder charges.
