•In 2019, Kilifi had over 13,000 cases of teen pregnancy and the number is believed to continue growing because of the poverty levels in the area.
•The closure of schools last year for almost nine months has also been blamed as a reason for the growing number of teen pregnancies.
Image: COURTESY
Many teenage girls from poverty-stricken areas of Kilifi have been affected by lack of pads since Covid-19 struck the country in March last year.
After parents lost their livelihood due to job losses caused by the closure of businesses due to the pandemic, many young girls could not get sanitary towels.
A spot check in some areas of Magarini revealed that the majority of young girls are being forced to engage in sex with boda boda riders or palm wine tappers for pads.
Those who are not lucky end up being mothers as young as 14 years or contracting sexually transmitted infections.
In 2019, Kilifi had over 13,000 cases of teen pregnancy and the number is believed to continue growing because of the poverty levels in the area.
The closure of schools last year for almost nine months has also been blamed for the growing number of teen pregnancies.
Kavumbi Kadzo (not her real name) from Ngomeni area is among the unlucky girls.
She became a teenage mother at the age of 14 years.
Kadzo, now 15 years, borrowed money from a young man in her village to buy sanitary pads only for the man to demand sex after she completed her periods.
“I did not reject his sexual advances because he had supported me, little did I know I might get pregnant,” she said while holding her baby who is now a year old.
Kadzo was speaking during a programme to support the teenage girls with sanitary pads, soaps, and other household items in Kilifi.
The programme is organized by the Centre for Rights Education and Awareness (CREAW Kenya), a national feminist women’s right non-governmental organization.
Kadzo’s case is just one of the many cases of young girls who have been victims of teen pregnancy due to poverty.
She was lucky because her parents supported her to return to school and she is now in Std 6 and expected to complete her education.
At school, however, she encountered stigma from classmates.
“As a young mother, my classmates used to make fun of me, however, I’m grateful to my teachers and parents who have been very supportive,” she said.
At Ngarite Primary School, NC a Std 7 pupil narrated the young girls’ predicaments to get sanitary pads.
The last born in a family of 11 is hopeful that village girls can get access to sanitary pads to serve them for three months while in school.
She said she used to score above 300 marks in the end term examinations, but due to challenges, she is now struggling to get 200 marks.
Due to poverty, many primary school pupils are older compared to those in urban centres.
NC is 17 years old and in Standard Seven, therefore she will complete her primary school when she is already 18 years.
Katana is 15 years old and in Standard Six, she will complete her primary school education at 17 years.
“When you ask for assistance from boys, they will help with expectations of being paid back with sex, which puts us at risk of getting pregnant at a very early age,” NC said.
JL, a Form 2 student at Marereni Secondary School, said she rejected sexual advances from a boy, who had helped her with some money.
JL explains that she has been forced several times to use pieces of clothes during her periods as she could not buy pads.
“I refused the sex demand because I know a person can help you without any demand,” she said.
Wanjiru Wainaina, a Nyumba Kumi official from Ngomeni, thanked CREAW Kenya for the initiative to support the girl child because they are going through serious challenges in the area.
She said she has on numerous occasions been forced to buy pads for the young girls, who come to her for assistance.
Wainaina explained that the youthful boda boda operators and wine tappers have money that they use to lure young girls into sexual escapades.
Helda Lameck, a community champion and chairperson for Women on the Move Against Gender-Based Violence, said there are many defilement, incest and domestic violence cases in Magarini.
She said most of the parents in Ngomeni area depended on salt harvesting, but since the pandemic, they have been jobless.
“Many girls were offering their bodies for sex to either get food or sanitary towels, that is why we have had many cases of teenage pregnancies,” she said.
Lameck said girls used to get pads in school, but when the Covid-19 struck, they could not get them which led them to engage in sex for pads.
She thanked CREAW for the initiative as the pads will help them for three months while the soap will clean their clothes.
Edited by Kiilu Damaris