A lobby group has called for food and sanitary towels donations for girls in Kisumu’s slums to protect them from engaging in sexual activities.
Truevine International programmes director Winter Ogacho said girls living in the slums were suffering and needed urgent help from the government.
Some girls claimed parents or guardians pushed them into sex, leading to early pregnancies.
Ogacho said they had received complaints against some parents who treated their children as a burden, thereby forcing them into early sex.
“We have information from girls that some parents allegedly push them into sexual activities in exchange for money to buy food and pads,” she said.
Ogacho condemned the practice and called for speedy investigations to arrest the culprits.
“Such activities subject young girls to early pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases,” she said.
Ogacho faulted parents for abandoning the responsibility of taking care of their children thereby forcing them into immoral activities.
“We must stop practices that ruin the lives and future of our children,” she said. The complaints have been reported in Nyalenda, Obunga, Manyatta, and Nyawita slums.
More than 300 schoolgirls aged between nine and 16 were given sanitary towels at a free medical camp at Baptist Church Kamakowa.
Friends of Engineer Kodera lobby group chaired by Phillip Marende donated bar soaps to girls and women.
Some schoolgirls complained that their parents forced them into sexual activities to get money.
The programmes director decried poverty as the major contributing factor to increased teen pregnancies.
Ogacho urged the girls to focus on studies and avoid early pregnancy. The girls were also sensitised on Covid-19 health measures.
“You are still young and must keep safe from men who are out to take advantage of you. Focus on your studies and nothing else,” she said. Ogacho appealed to well-wishers to join the lobby group in supporting vulnerable schoolgirls.
Edited by Henry Makori
