Consolata Awuor is a single mother of two who works on a large tea farm. Consolata
says that her job as a tea picker does not bring in enough to pay her rent on the plantation
(where she is required to live), feed and clothe her family, and pay her sons' school fees.
Because of her dire situation, in the absence of a sustainable salary, she no moonlights as
a sex worker in Kericho town in order to met her monetary demands.
"For us women, we get even less pay because we cannot physically pick as much tea
leaves [as the men], and because the wages of women are just lower" she said. “ If I
cannot afford to live on the plantation, I cannot get to work, I would lose my job and
would be extremely poor and homeless.” So, together with a few friends, Consolata and
a few friends have rented a tin room in the town near the plantation where they provide
sex and sell alcohol. "Most of our clients are our fellow tea workers, from all parts of the
plantation,” Consolata says.
Consolata explains that the sexual harassment she faces on the plantation increased upon
the discovery of her second job. Tea pickers and men in authoritative positions within the
plantation have utilized her services, and make her status as a sex worker known on the
plantation. Even before her nights as a sex worker began, her status as a single mother
provided a stigma on the workers and management.
“ All women are grabbed and asked for sexual favors by the men,” Consolata explains.
When the women turn them down or threaten to report them, they are met with harsh
repercussions. “ Our pay will be less if we make the wrong man mad, and we have to
work in the roughest and furthest parts of the plantations.”
When asked if she recognizes the danger in transactional sex, Consolata expresses that
she does. The number of tea workers in Kenya infected with HIV is among the highest
in the country. However, she and her two sons cannot survive on her tea plantation wages
alone and because she was raised in such extreme poverty, she has little education and
finding another job with higher pay would be impossible.
Case Study:
Tea. Next to water, it is the most popular beverage in the world. Kenya is responsible
for 20% of the world’ s exported tea, making it the 2nd largest exporter of tea globally.
Unilever Tea Kenya Limited (Ltd.) Unilever produces around 32,000 tons of tea a year,
making it one of two largest tea producing companies in Kenya.1
Working conditions for pickers are often poor, with low wages, low job and income
security, discrimination along ethnic and gender lines, lack of protective gear and
inadequate basic facilities such as housing, medical facilities, and sometimes even
drinking water and food.2 There is no possibility for tea workers to improve the dismal
working conditions due to the lack or ineffectiveness of trade unions as a result of
their status as temporary workers. Temporary workers are sometimes also referred to
as seasonal workers and are very common in Unilever. By not explicitly stating the
employment duration of those they hire, it is possible for Unilever to label employees
as temporary for up to six years. This method of business is called the “ casualization
of labor.” 3 This causes major concern for workers because they are not guaranteed job
security and other benefits that accrue to permanent workers, such as pension and access
to medical care for their children.4
Also, having the status as a temporary worker removes salary security. Unilever is able
to pay their workers a lower salary then if they were classified as permanent workers.
Already, the monthly income of a tea worker fluctuates according to the amount of tea
collected, which depends on a variety of variables, such as the season and the worker's
strength, health and agility.5
Furthermore, 60% of tea producers in Kenya are women.6 According to Natacha Thys,
Director of the International Labor Rights Fund's (ILRF) Rights for Working Women
Campaign., “ …the US imports Kenyan coffee processed by women who suffer routinely
from violent sexual abuse by their employers and supervisors. Even their daughters, who
live with them on the agricultural plantations, have been raped.” 7 90% of women working
on coffee and tea plantations surveyed reported experiencing or observing abuse and 95%
of those women did not report the abuse for fear of losing their jobs. There is little hope
of reprieve, as 70% of men surveyed view this as a non-issue and there is no legislative
path to fight sexual harassment/abuse in the workplace in Kenya.
1.Jark SS. Krysinski. "Capital Exploits and Prerogatives: Women’ s Labour and Bodies in the World Tea Affair." Simon Fraser University.
2 Ibid.
3 Sanne van der Wal. “ Sustainability Issues in the Tea Sector: A Comparative Analysis of Six Leading Producing Countries.” SOMO.
June 2008 <http://somo.nl/html/paginas/pdf/Sustainability_Issues_in_the_Tea_Sector_EN.pdf>.
4 ibid
5 ibid
6 Joyce Mulama. “ DEVELOPMENT: Women Produce Most of the Tea Grown in Kenya.” Inter Press Service News Agency. 2005
7 “ Pattern of Sexual Violence Against Women & Their Daughters Revealed in Production of Imported Kenya Coffee.” ILRF. May 17,
2002
