EDITORIAL
Teen pregnancy and sexual violence remain among Kenya’s most urgent and painful crises.
In just the first five months of 2023, more than 110,000 girls were reported pregnant. Of those, more than 6,000 were aged between 10 and 14.
These are not statistics, they are stories of childhoods lost. Many of these pregnancies are borne out of rape, incest, coercion and a culture of silence that protects perpetrators and shames victims.
And while some adults turn away, it is Kenya’s youth, many of whom are survivors themselves, who are stepping forward to defend others. These young change-makers are visiting schools, leading peer education, partnering with civil society, and calling out the silence that allows abuse to thrive.
A story in this newspaper captures one such effort and the heartbreaking realities they face. According to national surveys, nearly one in six Kenyan girls has experienced sexual violence before turning 18. Often, the abuser is someone they know.
Teen mothers are more likely to drop out of school, marry early, and remain trapped in cycles of poverty. They also face serious health risks and emotional trauma. It does not have to be this way.
Kenya must expand access to reproductive health services, enforce child protection laws, and support comprehensive sex education. Communities must stop covering for abusers. The youth are leading the way. The rest of us must follow by protecting girls, holding offenders accountable, and ending this silence for good.
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Quote of the Day: “What I do as best I can is out of a deep respect for children, for how difficult their world is.” —American author and illustrator Maurice Sendak was born on June 10, 1928
