Grade six and seven students become victims of SGBV in Taita Taveta, say officials

Defilement and sodomy have become the latest form of sexual gender-based violence (SGBV) among minors in Taita Taveta County.

Senior officials of the National Government Administrative Officers (NGAO) noted that the perpetrators of the SGBV have been targeting school-going boys and girls in the region.

Wundanyi Assistant County Commissioner (ACC) Halima Hassan said defilement and sodomy have been prevalent in the region, with the perpetrators targeting grade six and seven pupils.

“Boys and girls are at risk because they have been walking alone, making the victims vulnerable,” said the administrator yesterday, warning that such cases should not be arbitrated at home.

Addressing parents, teachers and pupils at Sungululu Comprehensive Primary School in Taita Sub-County during the commissioning of six classrooms contracted by the National Government Constituency Development (NG-CDF) Board, Ms Hassan blamed parents for the rise in SGBV by failing to work with law enforcement officers to eradicate the vices.

“Parents have failed to take the lead, and they have become a letdown in the fight against the vices by refusing to return the filled P3 forms to the police for action on the perpetrators of the sexual violence,” the administrator told the meeting.

“We are there to protect children, but parents have become a major letdown. Some have resorted to arbitrating these cases through "kangaroo" courts, hence frustrating the just arbitration system.

Stop "kangaroo" accounts, defilement and sodomy for monetary gain because the mental health of the victims is being affected by seeing the culprits of the offences scot-free," she warned parents.

But multiple interviews by parents blamed police and medical authorities for allegedly demanding hefty bribes while filling out P3 forms.

Those interviewed claimed they are being charged Sh1000 at the police stations and a similar amount at public health facilities for the P3 forms to be filled out.

“The poor keep the P3 forms at home because they cannot pay Sh2000 to the police and medical personnel to fill out the P3 forms,” noted the parents.

“We have no one to turn to. Once your son or daughter is sexually abused, you are left to navigate the situation alone. Some parents have been paying the P3 form fees and being given receipts to justify expenditure,” protested another parent at the meeting.

Yesterday, the NGAO official warned that no such cases should be arbitrated at home and those found doing so will face the full force of the law.

Elsewhere, Mwatate MP Peter Shake attributed the rise of SGBV to retrogressive cultures of solving such cases at home for fear of retribution, hardcore drugs and illicit brews.

At the same time, the opposition legislator also attributed the rising cases to widespread use and consumption of illicit brews and drugs; breakdown in marriages, lack of parental care and illiteracy levels, among other factors.

“The perpetrators of sexual violence should be arrested and prosecuted,” said Mr Shake.

Hassan said there are available penal institutions for the sexual offenders so that children can be free from sexual abuse. Let me remind Chiefs and their Assistants in the area that “Kangaroo Courts are illegal and anyone found abating them in his or her area of jurisdiction will be disciplined,” warned Hassan.

“We are referring to an end to GBV cases. We are giving criminals a notice, and we will not tolerate any criminal activities,” added the administrator.

A woman leader, Dorine Ngeti, said the rising cases of SGBV have instilled fear in parents and children alike and undermined the safety and dignity of boys and girls in the community.

“There should be a stronger fight against child abuse, defilement, incest and femicide in Kenya,” added the women's leader.

A recent assessment carried out in the region by Haki Africa, the Institute of Land Governance and Human Rights, Sauti Ya Wanawake and Men Championing Women’s Rights showed that up to 20 per cent of the girls in some areas of the county had dropped out of school due to early marriages and teenage pregnancies, while 60 per cent of the women had undergone the harmful cultural practice of female genital mutilation (FGM).

Other forms of human rights abuses, including incest, where many girls are defiled by their fathers, brothers and uncles, are reported to be the highest in the region, said the report.