Shine A Light on Child Abuse in Kenya

The COVID-19 pandemic has tested humanity in every way possible. The measures put in place to curb the spread of the virus have led to various disruptions in all spheres of life, ultimately affecting individuals, communities and the world at large. In early May 2020, child welfare organizations warned that the COVID-19 lockdown measures will increase cases of child maltreatment. This includes the sexual, physical, and emotional abuse and neglect of any person under 18 years old. 

The first COVID-19 case in Kenya was reported in March 2020. This was followed by measures such as closure of schools and colleges, restrictions of public gatherings including places of worship, curfew that ceased movement between 7:00 p.m. and 4.00 a.m., stringent safety measures on all institutions in the economic and social sectors. There was also a worldwide call for individuals to #stayhome to control the virus.

Childline Kenya, through the child helpline 116, has noted an increase in the child abuse reports since the enforcement of the measures to control the spread of the virus. Child Abuse reports from March to June 2020 have increased by 41% to 531 compared to a period of 4 months (November 2019 to February 2020) before the onset of COVID-19 in Kenya where 376 cases of violence against children were reported. The highest number of reported cases are defilement, child neglect and physical abuse which account for more than 71% of all reported cases. This is alarming!

Clearly the COVID- 19 crisis and resulting containment measures have had a drastic effect on the economic sector. The massive loss of jobs and livelihoods has affected the economic power of individuals to provide basic needs for themselves and their families. This has contributed to the raising cases in child neglect. Though reports of child maintenance and neglect were rampant pre-COVID the pandemic has evidently exacerbated the situation.

The closure of schools has also contributed to the increase in child abuse cases. Children have more time at home. Helpline data reveals that 60% of perpetrators of child abuse are close relations to the child. In Kenya, schools are set to resume in 2021. Children will be spending more time at home with little to no structure in their days and with the breakdown of social structures they are at risk of abuse. Some of the children are now forced to #stayhome with the perpetrators.

Children are the unseen victims of the pandemic. The rights of children are being overlooked as nations turn their attention to fighting the pandemic. Despite the pandemic, children’s rights must stand. Children still have rights. At Childline Kenya, we continue to fight for children’s rights. We work 24/7 through the national child helpline 116 service to offer psychosocial support to children as they deal with the pandemic and the issues that emerge as a result of the pandemic. Through the helpline, Childline provides psychosocial support including counselling, child therapy and family therapy. We work with partners to provide access to medication, safe shelter, legal aid, education support, reunification with families and reintegration. Childline also actively educates the public on child safety, working with key government agencies and child protection partners in all the 47 counties. All this is possible with support from development partners and individuals of goodwill.

We would like to thank our donors for your generous contributions to the work of Childline Kenya. We need each other now more than ever to Shine A Light on Child Abuse. Continue partnering with us to keep a child safe from abuse and leave no child behind in child protection.

Internet is our current reality globally.In the course of our work Childline Kenya engages with children who are at risk of exploitation and those who are victims of exploitation on the online space as well. In the past one year than 205 such cases have been reported with girls seemingly more vulnerable than boys. This quarter we present one of the cases we have handled related to child online safety with support from our donors including the GlobalGiving community.

A 15-year-old orphaned girl lives with an uncle and his family in Kisumu County. She is in class 6 at a local primary school. Her guardians presented her to the children’s office with the concern that she had a habit of running away and disappearing from home for several days at a time. During interrogation she revealed that she owned a smart phone, which her guardians knew nothing about, and which she hides at a friend’s place. Through this phone she was able to access internet and various social media platforms.

A certain 20-year-old man had been grooming her since November 2018 when she got the phone. The suspect used to send to her sexually suggestive texts and photos of himself. Sometimes, the child would go visit his house where she would be touched inappropriately and defiled. The last ordeal happened in the first week of December 2019.

In December 2018, while on Facebook she also received a friend request from a stranger calling himself ‘2000’. The person behind the account requested her to send photos of herself in skimpy dressing making sexually suggestive poses, and in turn she would receive USD10 per photo. The child did as she was asked and promptly received the money. From then onwards, she kept sending her photos to the stranger and each she had gotten paid. She said that the account kept changing its identity and the money she received via Mpesa came with different names for each transaction. The last Facebook contact between the child and the stranger happened in November 2019.

The child was placed in a safe shelter where she is receiving regular counseling services from Childline Kenya while her case is being handled by court.

2019 has been an amazing child protection year for us. This means that we have been able to help and give hope to thousands of abused children. For your support we heartily thank you. 

Child neglect and abandonment is the root cause of all forms of child abuse. A child who is left without protection, provision or guidance is one exposed to greatest forms of abuse. Such is the case of Debby and Jane (Not their real names) aged 7 and 12. A concerned teacher called the Helpline to report the abandonment of the girls. The mother of the girls was said to be unemployed and may have considered her children a burden. She left home one day and never came back leaving the children to their own devices. Their daily sustenance was dependent on the porridge portions they received in school and handouts from well-wishers. The girls resorted to begging on the streets after school as what they received was never enough. This further exposed the girls to the risk of defilement, especially when neighbours noticed that men were visiting their home seeking sexual favors in exchange for money and food. Luckily for the girls, the neighbours would intervene and chase the men away.

Matilda (Not her real name), teacher to one of the girls got suspicious after she heard one of the girls complain of stress as she didn’t know what her and her sister would eat that night. This prompted an investigation which revealed that the girls had been abandoned by their mother for a while. Matilda promptly reported the abandonment to Childline Kenya through the national child helpline service 116. Now in the hands of the helpline, the children’s officer in the area was contacted. The children’s officer took the girls to a safe house while he traced the whereabouts of any of the girls’ relatives. The father of the girls was traced within weeks of the girls’ rescue and they were reunited with their father. The girls may have been abandoned but because of the helpline that exists for them, they found a listening ear and a solution was found for their crisis.

Your donations help us remain available to all children including those abandoned children. Partner with Childline Kenya, help us be available always to children.

Childline Kenya is thrilled at the response so far to stop child abuse in Kenya. We would like to thank our supporters who made it possible for us to successfully participate in the July Bonus Day event and the Little by Little Campaign in August. The amounts raised will assist Childline Kenya to respond efficiently and effectively to the children who reach out to us for support everyday. On behalf of all the children who will benefit from this support I say, Thank you very much for believing in us entrusting us with your money to keep children safe. 

Childline Kenya’s success is heavily dependent on the people who decide to rise to the occasion to promote child protection and ensure children enjoy being children. We therefore salute all our supporters for the great work. It is you that are changing the lives of Kenyan children with every call you make and each coin you donate to Childline Kenya.

The common saying ‘I’m a phone call away’ is one that we often take for granted. At Childline Kenya, however, we make this a reality and we are indeed a phone call away-Always. We are available to all the children of Kenya 24 hours a day, 365 days a year; playing our part in ensuring that children’s voices are heard and their rights and dignity upheld at all times. Day after day Childline receives hundreds of reports of child abuse in its various forms. We are working tirelessly on and off the clock, responding to “the known” and “the unknowns”. There may not be a name or a face to the child but our dream is to give a voice to every child.

Meet one of our unknowns

Name of the child: unknown

Age: unknown but speculated to be between 9-11 years.

Home: unknown but suspected to be from the Western region of Kenya

Type of abuse: Unknown but suspected to be physical abuse

This case was reported by a concerned neighbor who would only hear the child crying in pain almost on a daily basis. The neighbor did not know what exactly was happening to the child but suspected foul play. Moved with compassion he took the first brave step and called the Helpline 116. He feared that he would not be heard because apart from his deep conviction that the child needed help, he did not seem to have any additional information regarding the child or the actual situation. He feared that it would be dismissed as unsubstantiated speculation. He was pleasantly surprised when the helpline counselor confirmed that something would be done about the case. A rescue team was constituted to conduct a home enquiry, the outcomes of which confirmed that the child in question (a boy) lived with his uncle and aunt who abused him physically by beating him every day with metal objects leaving him with scars all over his body. Although he was of school-going age, he was denied the right to go to school and was also overworked. In addition to that, he was left to care for a two year old child despite being a child himself.

Childline Kenya contacted the relevant authorities and the boy was rescued and taken to hospital for medical attention. He was also placed in a temporary safe shelter where he would to go through counseling as more permanent and family based care was sought for him. The perpetrators were arraigned in court and the boy has since been reunited with his primary family who though poor have great love for the boy and are committed to keeping him safe.

Such cases are reported everyday by a neighbor, teacher or other concerned people in the communtiy. With your support, we can make the process more efficient; improve response time, provide better health care, shelter and safe houses following a rescue as we await a verdict. This will go a long way in creating a safe environment for a child especially after children undergo such traumatic experiences.

We ask for your financial support to help Childline give a voice to the voiceless, rescue an “unknown” child and move them to safety and hopefully reunite them with their family.

Keep a child safe from abuse; partner with Childline Kenya.