Shine A Light on Child Abuse in Kenya

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.