In the last week, the country has been in shock over a number of child rights violations documented and shared on various social media platforms. These violations include assault, grievous bodily harm and defilement.
The cases have been widespread in various parts of the country, including Coast, Nairobi, Central and Nyanza.
It would appear that besides gender and sexual-based violence, child rights abuses have become rampant in many communities.
Both the girl and the boy are on the receiving end and are having their rights flagrantly abused by those meant to care and protect them.
In one incident that went viral on social media platforms this week, a 64-year-old man was caught defiling a 10-year-old girl by local activists and police officers in Kilifi county.
From the look of things, it was not the first time the incident was happening and the old man admitted to having just defiled the girl.
Cases of defilement, including sodomy, have been on the increase in various parts of the country.
Cases of women defiling boys have also been on the increase. A 21-year-old woman was accused of defiling a 17-year-old boy.
In February 2021, a 32-year-old woman was charged with defiling a boy aged 13 for eight months in Kasarani, Nairobi.
In March 2021, a 60-year-old woman was accused of defiling a boy aged 12 in King’ongo area of Nyeri county.
Similar incidences were also reported in 2020, one of them being a case of three women, aged between 30-66, who were accused of defiling a mentally challenged minor in Nyakach.
Such are the types of cases that are increasingly being reported and have now reached alarming rates.
Besides sexual abuse, children have also been undergoing serious harm and threat to their well being.
The gangs' warfare reported in Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu cities as well as in the towns of Malindi and Nakuru mostly involve young boys below 18 years.
In Mombasa, for example, those engaging in machete-wielding fights between different gangs are boys between 13-17 years.
They have gone on to slash and maim each other and in some incidences killing each other. When members of the public have come across these youth, they have further subjected them to more violence by lynching and killing them.
Besides the serious abuses of sexual and physical nature, the country has also witnessed children being subjected to manual labour, including begging on the streets, which affects their physical and psychological status.
In an incident in Mombasa, county government officials led by Inspectorate deputy director Ibrahim Basafar unearthed a syndicate where individuals feign disability and in some cases, even hire babies to hoodwink the public into giving them donations.
While the adults make money from such syndicates, it is the children who in the end suffer the most.
Article 53 (1) (d) of the Constitution provides that “Every child has the right to be protected from abuse, neglect, harmful cultural practices, all forms of violence, inhuman treatment and punishment and hazardous or exploitative labour”.
The primary responsibility of care and protection is on the parent as provided for in Article 53 (1) (e) of the Constitution that states: “Every child has the right to parental care and protection, which includes equal responsibility of the mother and father to provide for the child, whether they are married to each other or not”.
While it is true that the Covid-19 pandemic continues to take its toll on all sectors of society, including mental health, as a country, we must cushion our children from these adverse effects.
As adults, we must do more to protect and care for children. Child rights abuses must be resisted and prevented at all costs and those found guilty of such must face the full wrath of the law.
Parents must further do better in safeguarding their children and ensure their safety and security.
