Shine A Light on Child Abuse in Kenya

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.

Childline continues to make great impact in child protection one child at a time. Everyday more than 3,000 calls are made through the national child helpline 116 service. Some of these calls are of children who are survivors of various forms of child abuse including sexual abuse, physical abuse and emotional abuse. Childline is committed to ensure the little voices of the affected children are heard and they receive the immediate child protection services required including counseling, legal support, medication and temporary shelter. Financial support through our GlobalGiving partners makes it possible for Childline Kenya to coordinate the access to these services for free or for very subsidized rates to the children and their families. This quarter we highlight the case of a teenager who is a victim of circumstances and who is taken advantage of continuously in the name of saving her mother's marriage. A total of 25% of all child abuse cases reported to Childline Kenya were of various forms of chid sexual abuse similar to the example presented. This is alarming and must be dealt with head-on so that children are protected from abuse in such great numbers. Thanks to GlobalGiving this is possible a dollar at a time to help Childline reach a child at a time to shine a light on child abuse in Kenya.

Ruth a 15 year old girl will become a mother in August 2019 adding on to the number of teenage pregnancies currently being experienced in the country. Her mother re-married after divorcing her biological Father and they all moved to their new home. As soon as they settled in Ruth was asked to be sleeping at her step grandfather’s house because their new house was smaller and there was not much privacy for the parents. During her stay at the grandfather’s house Ruth was defiled every night by the grandfather. Despite reporting this to her mother no attempt was made to report, arrest the perpetrator or even provide Ruth with an alternative sleeping place. All her mother told her was that if they reported it would cause bad blood and this could result to them being chased away. Directly translated she told Ruth to “Help her keep peace in her new marital home”.

After a while new sleeping arrangements were made for Ruth. She was moved to be sleeping at her polygamous step uncle’s home. Her step uncle started defiling her as well and this time she conceived. When she told her Uncle about the pregnancy he beat her senseless and told her he did not want any association with the pregnancy. He then gave her one dollar and asked her to relocate to avoid conflict with his family since his two wives were threatening her as well.

She left and started wandering aimlessly not knowing where to go or what to do with herself in her situation. A pastor spotted her as she was begging for food at the Kenya Uganda boarder. He got curious and approached her. She narrated her ordeal to him. The pastor called Childline Kenya who in turn mobilized the rescue team consisting of Ruth’s former teacher, area chief and the sub county coordinator of Children Services.

Ruth is in a safe place currently and the perpetrators have been arrested. She is still receiving psycho social support including counseling and will resume school once she has delivered her baby. Childline conducts regular follow up to ensure the perpetrators do not walk Scott free so that justice is served for Ruth. This will also deter other members of the community from engaging in illicit relationships with underage girls. 

Support to children like Ruth is made possible through our partners on the GlobalGiving platform and for that we are eternally grateful.