Homa Bay parents and guardians should provide appropriate care to their children during this festive season to curb sexual abuse.
Proper monitoring and care should also be done to prevent school boys and girls from indulging in activities that can ruin their future.
Homa Bay children’s affairs officer Joseph Otieno said there is a need for parents to be keen on children as they close schools and return home for festive season.
Otieno argued that there are some sex pests who usually lure children when they are at home.
“We appeal to parents and guardians also to be keen on what their children will be watching in social sites. Let’s not allow children to get spoilt when we can avert it,” Otieno said.
Talking to journalists on the sidelines of stakeholders meeting in Rangwe town on Tuesday, the officer asked guardians not to abscond their role as parents.
Homa Bay is rated high in teen pregnancies and child molestation.
The county is second with 33 per cent in teen pregnancy after Narok in Kenya.
Due to its proximity to Lake Victoria, young girls and boys face challenges of molestation in beaches.
Some students engage in fishing while girls sell fish in the beaches.
Some children engage in underage labour due to high poverty index.
Otieno told parents to ensure they provide a conducive and safe environment for their children to reduce such cases.
“We’re working closely with local administration officers to ensure they reduce disco matanga (night discos) because they promote social ills in the society,” he added.
During the meeting, it was realised that children who engage in child labour in market centres have their security not guaranteed.
Sex pests normally take advantage of the situation to defile teen girls.
“Let children report even their relatives who sexually molest them. They shouldn’t fear because such people destroy their future life,” Otieno said.
Last week, Homa Bay county commissioner Moses Lilan urged parents to be in the forefront in defending their children against things that ruin their future.
“Parents should know that children would grow in accordance to how they are moulded,” Lilan said.
(edited by Amol Awuor)
