British soldiers use sex workers in Kenya despite ban

Soldiers at the BATUK base in Kenya are using sex workers at a  ”low to moderate” degree despite a zero-tolerance policy, a new report by the British army finds.

In July 2022, the UK's defence ministry announced that it was banning "all sexual activity which involves the abuse of power, including buying sex whilst abroad".

However, a June report found that there had been at least 35 allegations of transactional sex or sexual exploitation at the Kenya base since the ban.

Of these incidents, 9 violations were allegedly committed after the full training and implementation of the policy was completed in November 2022.

The report stated that offenders had been given varying punishments ranging from demotion to a £2,000 fine and minor administrative action. Other suspects had their charges dropped due to insufficient evidence.

”The findings of the Service Inquiry I commissioned conclude that transactional sex is still happening in Kenya at a low to moderate level. It should not be happening at all”, said General Sir Roly Walker, Chief of the General Staff, in a press release on Tuesday.

Walker, who commissioned the report, said that he would implement its recommendations in full, including increasing the army’s ability to discharge people for using sex workers.

More than 7500 army personnel served at BATUK situated near the central Kenyan town of Nanyuki, during the time of the investigation.

The inquiry into the soldiers' conduct was first initiated after ITV published the documentary ” The Base: a British Army Scandal’ which alleged that troops at the base regularly paid for sex with local women, and had raped girls as young as 13.