Ninety-nine per cent of Kenyan girls aged between 15 and 19 who survive forced sex and violence don't seek professional help.
These discouraging statistics are contained in the latest joint report by UNICEF, Plan International and UN Women 'A New Era for Girls: Taking Stock of 25 years of progress'. The report was released this month.
The report shows that 23 per cent of girls of the same age had experienced physical and/or sexual violence by a current or former intimate partner during the last 12 months.
It estimates that globally, one in every 20 adolescent girls aged between 15 and 19 years (around 13 million), has experienced forced sex.
Yet, very few of them seek professional help, preferring to keep their abuse secret.
“The reasons for this are varied but can include fear of retaliation, guilt, shame, fear of being blamed, lack of confidence in the abilities or willingness of professionals to help, lack of knowledge about available support services and mistrust of law enforcement,” the report reads.
The report states that social norms can also affect a survivor’s reluctance to come forward or dictate to whom she or he is expected to look for assistance.
“Formal support services for survivors, including survivor-centred health services, continue to be lacking n many communities, creating even more obstacles for those who consider seeking help.”
According to the report, a girl is at risk of encountering violence irrespective of where she lives, whether at home, in the classroom or within the community, adding that types of violence today have become increasingly complex with the rise of technology.
Agencies say despite fewer girls getting married or becoming mothers and more being in school and being literate, the progress has been uneven and far from equitable.
The report says early childbearing is more common among the least educated girls.
In Kenya for instance, the report shows that the number of annual births per 1,000 adolescent girls aged 15 to 19 with primary or no education is 148 compared to 56 among those with secondary or higher education.
“When it comes to making decisions about their health and well-being, girls still face significant barriers to accessing and benefiting from health services to meet their specific needs," it says.
These relate to sexual and reproductive health due to cost, stigma, limited age-appropriate information, fear of side effects or limited decision-making autonomy,” it says.
The report also notes that even though fewer adolescent girls are becoming mothers today, they still face a high risk of sexually-transmitted infections and anaemia.
For instance, 970,000 adolescent girls aged 10 to 19 globally are living with HIV today, compared to 740,000 in 1995.
Edited by R.Wamochie
