The sad truth behind the trending hashtag #paymodelsKE

Piece by: Lily Mwangi
InPictures

The creative industry has for a long time been known as the place of work where one does not require a degree or is basically not book smart. Let us be real here, its all a hustle just like any other.

So the trend on paying models in Kenya blew up when one of the renowned models, Sheila Kanini came out, fed up with being a model in the Kenyan industry. She and other models shared their experiences talking about being models who are either not paid, paid peanuts or even being sexually assaulted.

Of course, Mpasho did not sleep on this story. We had an exclusive interview with one of the ladies who helped Sheila Kanini expose the companies that have been exploiting the models in the name of exposure.

Amal Abdul a very beautiful model who has been in the game for five years now talks about how she has done gigs for companies and newspapers that are well known and are associated with money and some she has not been paid up to date.

She talks about a shoot she did for a newspaper where she was on the cover and she was never paid. To make things worse, the chief editors made her feel like she was hallucinating about the whole story, saying they have never used her, in fact, she is very ugly and not camera worthy. They have gone through all this only for them not to get paid.

It pains her but she said she will not give up modeling only that she has given up on agencies because they are the main perpetrators of the complaints models have been raising.