Online violence could be a growing problem among children and young adults, the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection has warned.
A survey by the ministry titled Violence Against Children 2019, shows that among 18-24 year old males with a social media account, 13 per cent have experienced emotional violence by a peer online or through technology in the past 12 days.
In the same age group, 22 per cent of females with a social media account have also experienced emotional violence by a peer online in the past 12 days.
“Online violence is an emerging area of concern in Kenya that requires further research on the prevalence, drivers, consequences and evidence based concerns,” the ministry says.
In the survey report, online violence has been linked to the current rise of emotional violence among children and the youth.
About one third of females and males experienced emotional violence by a peer in the last 12 months.
“Emotional violence, while its effects are not as visible as other forms of violence, was found to be particularly damaging to the mental health of children and youths affected,” Labour CS Simon Chelugui said.
Following this, the United Nations Children’s Fund cautions that the problem could be exacerbated by more children staying at home.
Currently, more than 18 million children are at home following school closures in March and according to Education CS George Magoha, they will stay home for longer.
Primary and secondary schools are expected to reopen next year and most learners are currently benefiting from virtual educational programmes distributed through televisions, radio and the internet.
According to psychologists, these children are now at risk of online violence as their lives have increasingly moved online during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Unicef and End Violence assert that school closures and containment measures mean more and more families are relying on technology and digital solutions to keep children learning, entertained and connected to the outside world.
“The lives of millions of children have temporarily shrunk to just their homes and the pandemic has led to an unprecedented rise in screen time,” psychologist Mercy Mwendwa says.
End Violence notes that not all children have the necessary knowledge, skills and resources to keep themselves safe online.
Students are also socialising more online and spending much time on virtual platforms that could leave children vulnerable to online sexual exploitation and grooming.
“Increased and unstructured time online may expose children to potentially harmful and violent content as well as greater risk of cyber bullying,” Taylor said.
Unicef has thus called on governments and industries to join forces to keep children and youths safe online via enhanced safety features and new tools to help parents, educators teach their children how to safely use the internet.
