Where sex pests ride on bikes and boats

Fishermen plying their trade. Fishermen mainly in Homa Bay and Kisumu have been accused of sexually exploiting schools girls.
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What you need to know:

  • New report accuses fishermen, boda boda taxi operators and relatives of sexually exploiting school girls and ruining lives

Fishermen, relatives and boda boda operators in parts of Nyanza have been accused of sexually exploiting school girls.

A new report by women scholars and professionals also attributes rising school pregnancies and dropouts among girls to sexual harassment by some teachers.

In Kisii, a negative belief that good performers are often bewitched has dissuaded girls from putting a lot of effort to pass exams.

These are some of the facts that the scholars, under the auspices of the Nyanza Education Women’s Initiative (Newi), came face-to-face with when they visited 162 schools in the province last year.

In their report presented to the provincial education office in Kisumu, the women identified sugarcane workers, boda boda operators and relatives in the region as those preying on the school girls.

Their report says sexual exploitation was one of the key reasons behind the poor performance of girls in national examinations.

In last year’s Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education examinations when they performed better than the previous exam, only 33 girls obtained a mean grade of A plain compared to 171 boys.

Some 162 girls scored a mean grade of A-compared to 887 for boys.

A total of 532 girls obtained mean grade of E, the worst in the exam.

The report said fishermen mainly from Homa Bay and Kisumu areas were sexually harassing girls.

The report by Newi also shows that girls in Kisii are not working hard in academics because they believe they will be bewitched should they excel.

The also dwelt on the reproductive aspects of the girls, saying many orphaned children in the area are forced to live with relatives some of whom harass them sexually.

“Other than demanding sexual favours, these relatives do not discipline or motivate girls in such circumstances to go to school,” said the report.
“There is sexual harassment from relatives they live with during school holidays,” says the report.

The relatives also defile orphaned or needy girls who are forced to play ball in exchange for educational favours.

The report also says that in mixed schools, or neighbouring schools, girls and boys were in relationships with one another.

It notes: “In schools, boy-girl and girl-teacher relationships are also rampant.”

Some teachers were also found to prey on the girls turning from being key motivators and role models to “lovers”.

“Boy-girl, girl-teacher relationships are rampant in that they are in multiple relationships with fellow students, college boys or older men,” said the report, adding this interfered with their performance.

So bad is the situation that in one of the schools in Kisumu East, there is a lovers corner, where students hide to “make out” with fellow students.

Girls, said the study, viewed relationships with older men as the only way to meet their financial needs including pocket money and sanitary pads.

Often the result is early pregnancies and poor performance in school, the report said.

In case of pregnancy among school girls, the scholars established, other girls assist the victims in securing abortion.

“They are well conversant with crude methods of aborting in school.”

According to the report, some girls believe that to pass exams, one has to get access to a leakage, especially from the teachers they are in relationships with.

As a result, they don’t prepare adequately for examinations.

“The girls approach subjects like mathematics and sciences with a negative attitude and don’t take them seriously or avoid them altogether.”

“Because of the rampant girl-teacher relationships in these schools, some girls fear approaching teachers for help when they need it”.

The problem that is unique to the districts in the Kisii region is witchcraft.

The report was compiled by the Newi team following visits to 162 schools in the province.

It recommended that Newi members start talking to parents and their children during parents’ days on parenting.

More women should be appointed to education boards and parents associations. It also called for a mothers’ seminar to sensitise the students on the importance of educating girls.

The survey found caning was still rampant against the rules and regulations and called for establishment of more single-sex schools.

The report follows a visit to the schools between June 2 and 4 last year.

Provincial director of education Geoffrey Cherongis wrote in the report that the province had a low completion rate for girls, with only 54 in every 100 girls reaching Standard Eight.