A total of 1,410 defilement cases have been reported in Kilifi county hospitals for the last three years, a health officer has said.
Raymond Katana said that cases of child abuse in the area with hospitals in the area also recording 87 sodomy cases.
"Most of the evidence is destroyed at the community level [and] we also have a lot of unreported cases since many end up in kangaroo courts," he added.
He attributed this to lack of awareness on how best to address issues pertaining to sexual violence against minors.
Katana asked members of the public to report such cases to police officers so that action can be taken against culprits for justice to prevail for victims.
He said without collaboration, intervention and eradication of all forms of violence against children may not yield fruit in the long run.
Katana made his remarks on Wednesday during the release of results from a three-year project dubbed 'Integrated Approached to Child Protection against Violence in Kenya'.
The project started being implemented in 2014 in Kilifi, Kwale, Mombasa and Nairobi.
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Plan International official Wambua Ndambuki said the project is aimed at addressing sexual violence against children, including sexual abuse and subjection to transactional sex.
"We want to ensure violence against children is eliminated in the Coastal counties through provision of support to the implementation of the National Child Protection system," he said.
He said implementation will be realised through community capacity, training sessions and the use of participatory education theatre.
"Already more than 300 teachers in the Coast have been trained on child protection, alternative positive discipline and understanding of gender-based violence," Wambua said.
He also said more than 10,000 children have been taken through life skills enhancing sessions.