BY BRIAN OTIENO
Sexual exploitation of children at
school and at home is becoming
rampant because teachers and
parents are increasingly depressed,
an NGO has said.
Beacon Teachers Africa, an organisation that protects children and offers them psychosocial support, says more has to be done to protect children in schools, but this has to start at home.
Organisation founder and CEO Dr Joan Mwende said the welfare of teachers has to be taken care of, for them to be the parents the children need in schools.
She said from the research they have conducted some children learn improper acts from their homes and bring them to school.
“Monkey see, monkey do! What the children see at home is what they do. We had a case somewhere in Eastern region where ECDE children were found literally engaging in sex at breaktime,” Mwende said
“Upon investigation, we found that one of the children had seen a neighbour walk into their home and into their mother’s bedroom. She knocked the door but it was not answered. So she peeped and saw her mother and the neighbour engaging in sex.”
She spoke at Khadija Primary School in Mombasa on Saturday during International Teachers’ Day while celebrating her organisation’s milestones in rescuing children from exploitation. Mwende said the girl taught her cousin at home and her friends at school how to engage in sex.
“Violence against children is in 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 is not reported,” Mwende said.
She said most times when children are abused sexually, they are convinced it is not something they should talk about. The worst thing, she said, is that in most cases, there would be no physical signs of the abuse unless the child is subjected to medical assessment.
“Society also somehow promotes this. There are cultures that propagate such kinds of sexual violence on children. For instance, there are cultures that allow grandfathers to call their granddaughters wives,” she said.
“And because you are my wife, you can come and touch me or I can touch you. That touching is sometimes done in full view of everybody. The grandfather might be fondling the breasts of his grandchild and nobody would complain.”
She said this might graduate to other forms of sexual abuse. Mwende said not many cases of sexual abuse of children are reported because the families feel it is embarrassing and it might reflect poorly on them. Some protect the perpetrators because they are family members.
“Because there is also stigma attached to it. Unfortunately, the stigma is not attached to the abuser, it is attached to the victim and this is why this is complex,” she said.
She said many parents, after discovering their children have been sexually abused, tell them not to say.
“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 publicised that their child was sexually violated,” Mwende said.
If a reported case is prosecuted, then it takes ages to conclude, Mwende said.
“If a child was violated at 14 years, and the case takes four or five years to conclude, then the child is already an adult by the time it concludes and they may not be willing to pursue justice at that time,” she said.
This discourages people from going to court over such cases. Mwende also faults the criminal justice system for not giving the victim compensation in case of a conviction. She said the only bright side is that an offender is jailed to protect the society.
“But then what happens to the victim? They are just left with nothing. They cater to their own medical attention, there is no financial reward to say take care of a baby that may have been born out of that abuse,” Mwende said.