Most cases of sexual violence against children go unreported – lobby

BY BRIAN OTIENO @Yobramos4

Sexual exploitation of children at school and at home is on the rise as teachers and parents become increasingly depressed, an NGO says.

Beacon Teachers Africa, an organization that protects children and provides psychosocial support, says more needs to be done to protect children in schools, but this must start at home.

Founder and CEO of the organisation, Dr Joan Mwende, said the welfare of teachers must be taken care of so that they can be the parents the children need in school.

She said from the research they conducted, some children learn inappropriate actions from home and bring them to school.

“Monkey look, monkey do! What the children see at home is what they do. We had a case somewhere in the Eastern Region where ECDE children were literally having sex during recess,” Mwende said.

“Upon investigation, we discovered that one of the children had seen a neighbor walk into their home and their mother’s bedroom. She knocked on the door, but no one opened it. So she peeked and saw her mother and the neighbor having sex.”

She spoke at Khadija Primary School in Mombasa on Saturday during International Teachers’ Day as she celebrated her organization’s milestones in saving children from exploitation.

Mwende said the girl taught her cousin at home and her friends at school how to have sex.

“Violence against children takes many forms. They can be violated physically, emotionally and sexually. We have a lot of sexual violence against children across the country, but most of it goes unreported,” Mwende said.

She said that when children are sexually abused, they are usually convinced that it is not something they should talk about.

The worst part, she said, is that in most cases there would be no physical signs of the abuse unless the child is subjected to a medical evaluation.

“Society also promotes this in some way. There are cultures that promote such forms of sexual violence against children. For example, there are cultures where grandfathers are allowed to call their granddaughters wives,” she said.

“And since you’re my wife, you can come and touch me, or I can touch you. This touching sometimes happens in full view of everyone. The grandfather could caress his grandchild’s breasts and no one would complain.

She said this could lead to other forms of sexual abuse.

Mwende said not many cases of child sexual abuse are reported because families find it embarrassing and it could reflect badly on them.

Some protect the perpetrators because they are family members.

“Because there is also a stigma attached to it. Unfortunately, the stigma is not attached to the abuser, but to the victim and that is why this is complex,” she said.

She said many parents, after discovering their children have been sexually abused, tell them not to say so.

“They choose to keep it a secret. They would not report it to the police or take it to court because they do not want it to be known that their child has been sexually abused,” said Mwende.

If a reported case is prosecuted, it takes ages for the case to be concluded, Mwende said.

“If a child is violated at age 14 and the case takes four or five years to complete, then by the time the case is finalized the child will already be an adult and the child may not be prepared at that time to to pursue justice,” she said.

This discourages people from going to court in such cases.

Mwende also blames the criminal justice system for not providing compensation to the victim in the event of a conviction.

She said the only positive side is that an offender is jailed to protect society.

‘But what happens to the victim? They just have nothing left. They take care of their own medical care, there is no financial reward for taking care of a baby that may have been born from that abuse,” Mwende said.

In schools, she noted, teachers can take out their frustrations on innocent students because they don’t have that fatherly or motherly bond with the children.

“That is why at Beacon Teachers we create that bond with the child and through this bond they open up to us about many things that they might not open up to anyone else, even their parents,” Mwende said.

Beacon Teachers Africa Mombasa Secretary Rev. Maria Kipruto said most of the children attending school today are not psychologically stable.

“Any child who is not psychologically stable at school cannot learn. So we first assess the child’s mood when he or she comes to school. We are then able to communicate with the child and unlock their spirit by showing love, care and protection,” she Kipruto said.

Kipruto said digital literacy is one of the competencies that a child must acquire in everyday learning today, but unfortunately this exposes them to various content including sexual content.

“Nowadays, very young students openly admit that they are sexually active. They will tell you about sex and pornography and you will be shocked. It’s very traumatizing,” she says.