• Contrary to popular belief, boys are at a higher risk of experiencing online exploitation than girls.
• Teachers, the assessment found, were the most trusted adults in whom children were willing to confide when such incidences occurred.
Image: COURTESY
Online violence against children had not been given much focus in the law until the Computer Misuse and Cyber Crimes Act 0f 2018 was passed.
Even then, the legislation was limited in its scope of forms of Online Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (OCSEA).
It had provisions for the prosecution of perpetrators who publish Child Pornography which the Act describes as data in visual or audio that depicts a child, a person who appears to be a child or realistic images representing a child engaged in sexually explicit conduct.
“Upon conviction, the perpetrator is liable to a fine not exceeding twenty million or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 25 years, or both,” the Act says.
As the digital age continues to draw new technology, perpetrators keep coming up with new ways to violate children’s rights online.
The Department of Child Services, under the Ministry of Public Service and Special Programmes, did an assessment of Kenya’s response to OSCEA.
They had focus group discussions with young people from Garissa, Kisumu and Mombasa, between the ages of 13 and 17, and an online survey of children aged seven to 17 years.
They found that contrary to popular belief, boys are at a higher risk of experiencing online exploitation than girls.
“Boys would be less likely to talk about concerns such as being exposed to pornography or they may only share with their peers. They are also less likely to be monitored than girls,” they found.
They revealed that a five-country survey in Africa found that over 55 per cent of children have accessed adult pornography online before.
Online Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse have become a big threat to children everywhere.
This has prompted the Department of Child Services to launch the 2022-2026 National Plan of Action on Tackling Online Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (OSCEA).
In Kenya, three in every 10 households have internet in the home, according to the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) and access is growing exponentially.
“Mobile phone use is currently at 108 per cent with a total of 61.96 million subscribers and in 2020, Kenya recorded a spike in internet subscriptions between July and September 2020,
That was the first quarter of the 2020/2021 financial year, the Authority reported, where 43.45 million subscribers were recorded, an increase of 4.8 per cent from the previous quarter.
They attributed this growth to the pandemic, which caused many operations to be shifted to online spaces, including school and work.
This saw many children exposed to the internet and a great need to make sure they stay safe while they are online.
Permanent Secretary for the Department of Social Protection, Nelson Marwa, said that the National Plan of Action on tackling OCSEA will, for the next four years, have a coordinated multi-stakeholder approach to effectively keep children safe.
“This Action plan will help fill the critical gaps that make the response to OCSEA difficult,” he said.
Compared to other action plans, this new one intends to focus on preventing any cases of online violence against children before they happen.
“We will focus on prevention and early identification because of the general lack of awareness by children, parents, caregivers and communities of how to identify and prevent OCSEA.
This approach was informed by the assessment’s findings that there was little knowledge on handling of OSCEA.
“New forms of OSCEA such as grooming, chatting online with a child preparing them for a sexual meeting, are not addressed in the Cybercrimes Act nor are Cyber Cafes and Video dens where children frequent to access the internet regulated by any policy,” they found.
This makes it difficult to know whether the content being consumed by children in those facilities is safe.
Once such incidents happen, it was found that children failed to report them because of fear.
“When the parents are strict, instead of helping you they decide to punish you. This may prevent reporting” one child cited.
“Fear that when we tell parents we will be thoroughly beaten and get accused of watching pornography and that is embarrassing,” another one said.
It was found that nothing was done to help children who experienced OSCEA after it was identified that they were victims.
The plan will be addressing the gap that exists between identifying victims of OCSEA and getting them help, especially access to quality support services for victims.
The Action plan will work on influencing legislation and policy in the form of improved OCSEA frameworks, national strategies and public awareness campaigns to the community, schools and even churches, to promote a preventative environment.
Teachers, the assessment found, were the most trusted adults in whom children were willing to confide when such incidences occurred.
Others said they were willing to share with a parent or caregiver some saying they would share only if they felt their lives were threatened.
The assessment also found that the anonymity that online personas provide for perpetrators, some of them operating from foreign countries, also makes it harder to charge and prosecute.
To bridge the gap in prosecution, it is recommended in the Action plan that resourcing be put into law enforcement to enable them to address the identification of victims.
They add that sufficient resources to translate policy into action is essential and in the case of OCSEA, there is a particular need to have robust and up-to-date capacity in-country.
“Key to the implementation of an effective response is ensuring all duty bearers are equipped with the necessary knowledge, skills and competencies to respond to the needs of children at risk and victims of OCSEA,” they said.
That includes training and teaching children, teachers, parents and caregivers to identify and stay safe from online sexual exploitation.
“Members of the Judiciary, social services as well as law enforcement will also receive comprehensive training to handle such cases brought before them,” they added.
“Reporting mechanisms will be improved and coordinated, and perpetrators will be held to account through the strengthening of the criminal justice system,” they affirmed.
Just recently, President Uhuru Kenyatta passed the Children’s Bill 2021 which also has provisions for the prosecution of more forms of OCSEA.
The bill, which is now the Children’s Act of 2021, references child abuse as including cyberbullying, grooming, solicitation, cyber incitement, harassment and stalking.
Children’s rights organization Save the Children described it as progressive and will go a long way in supporting the promotion and protection of child rights in the country.