Squaddies forced to have unprotected sex with Kenya prostitutes in initiation rite

BRITISH soldiers training in Kenya have carried out initiation ceremonies in which younger recruits are forced into having unprotected sex with prostitutes, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.

Senior soldiers allegedly toss a coin to determine whether the squaddie wears a condom, to prove how ‘brave’ they are.

The claims have alarmed defence chiefs because of the high rates of HIV/Aids in Kenya, where it affects one in 20 people.

Around 10,000 British troops are deployed to Kenya every year to carry out live firing exercises for up to eight weeks.

On their return, soldiers were quizzed on the use of prostitutes, who hang around outside the base, for a study which has been published in the British Medical Journal Military Health.

One soldier, who is not identified, told the Ministry of Defence: ‘When this unit deploys on exercise [to the British Army Training Unit Kenya], they have an initiation ceremony for all the new soldiers who haven’t deployed to Kenya before. The more senior soldiers would flip a coin – heads you could use a condom, tails you could not.’

The report, written by the Defence Medical Services, reveals that although a guide to sexual health is issued on arrival in the East African country, the number of soldiers seeking help for related diseases increased compared with UK-based troops. It also found that a third of squaddies could not remember being given the advice.

Five per cent of Kenya’s population is HIV-positive compared with 0.2 per cent in the UK.

The report said the risk of catching a sexually transmitted disease from a prostitute not only has the potential to reduce the operational effectiveness of the unit but also presents a ‘global reputational risk’.

Former Army intelligence officer Philip Ingram criticised the military leadership over the incidents.

‘Sexual health is a part of annual training for all service personnel,’ he said. ‘To hear that soldiers are being forced into some form of sexual initiation ceremony... where HIV rates are very high, shocks me to the core. [It] once again highlights a failure in leadership and that the culture in the Army is still fundamentally broken.’

The report warned of a growing use of prostitutes close to the British base in Nanyuki, Kenya, with some services even offered at barber shops, as revealed by a senior officer who had gone for a trim.

‘When the haircut was complete, he was ushered towards a back room and shown a number of female sex workers,’ the report said. ‘The barber then asked if he would like any “extra services.”’

The officer told how he was shocked at how suddenly the events unfolded, and said he related the encounter to demonstrate to other soldiers the close proximity of sex workers and to advise soldiers on ‘how to politely decline any similar offers’.

A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: ‘All sexual activity which involves the abuse of power, including buying sex whether in the UK or abroad, is prohibited.

‘We are committed to preventing sexual exploitation in any form.’