Shine A Light on Child Abuse in Kenya

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.