United Nations: Up to a third of girls in Kenyan holiday coastal resorts are engaged in child prostitution

Associated Press:

More than 15,000 teenagers living in four coastal districts exchange sex for cash, says the government-backed report. Kenyan men are the worst offenders, but half the clients were from Europe, principally Italy, Germany, Switzerland and Britain.

Launching the report, Kenya's Vice President Moody Awori described the findings as a "shocking reality" and said the problem "continues to grow to horrific magnitude."

Under Kenyan law, sexual exploitation of children is criminal offense, but the report shows widespread acceptance of commercial sexual abuse in the country.

"Tourists and Kenyans who abuse children must be arrested, brought to trial and punished," said Heimo Laakkonen, head of UNICEF in Kenya.

The report cites poverty as the main reason children were resorting to prostitution.

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