Teen pregnancy explosion calls for stronger child protection

Of late, nothing has been more shocking than the report on the high number of minors who have become pregnant during the Covid-19 lockdown. Though disputed, the report paints a grim picture of our society.

Machakos County reported a staggering 4,000 expectant teenagers. Many other counties have reported a spike in the number of young girls who became pregnant. Most of them are still in school and below the age of majority.

Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha thinks easy availability of pornography on the internet is to blame. That could be one cause of the problem all right, and he ought to solve it, but the matter is much more complex than just a minor watching pornography and running into the arms of the next manshe meets.

Our African culture of marrying off young girls leaves us blind-sided to child sexual crimes somewhat. No wonder, a male judge found nothing wrong in suggesting that a 13-year-old girl had consent to have sexual relations with a mature man despite the age of majority being set at 18.

Which brings me to the issue of paedophilia. Defined as sexual attraction to children, it has not featured in the Kenyan or, indeed, African psyche and is considered more of a ‘white people’ problem. And the fact that most paedophiles caught in Kenya have been white men doesn’t help matters either.

African men who have carnal knowledge of minors, generally called “defilers” in Kenya, are most likely paedophiles in the first place. Paedophilia got lost in Africans’ acceptance of early marriage that were organised between families and the girls could be traced to homes they were married into. But we are now dealing with faceless child rapists, paedophiles or child abusers or all three. And we should be worried.

Pedestrian comments about the cause of pregnancies by MPs, CSs and county officials does not help the cause. Blaming the girls is starting on the wrong foot with a matter that involves two parties — one most likely being a groomer who ends up taking advantage of under-age children. Paedophiles who groom minors for sex come from all walks of life.

Paedophilia has been a challenge in many developed countries. But they have been able to study it and deal with it both as a psychological problem and a criminal matter. We might just be decades behind in finding black paedophiles amongst us but it is never too late to start looking at the problem legally and psychologically rather than through ‘guestimates’.

The opportunists who abuse children in their care need to be dealt with by looking at the paedophiliac traits of the suspects. Many teachers have been accused of taking advantage of their pupils and impregnating them. The most we have done is transfer or sack them. How do we know that a teacher is not a paedophile? Are we not taking the problem back to the community if we do not jail or treat teachers, nurses, priests or even policemen who pose a risk to minors?

Like many other faculties, social work and psychiatry do not get the support they require. These are specialists who can help to sort out the paedophilia menace.

Psychologists who work with paedophiles are crucial in assessing individuals who molest minors and decide whether they are a long-term risk to the society. Social workers can form a protection ring around children from infancy to maturity. Their input should inform us of children at risk of abuse from within homes and without.

Now, NGOs are filling the gap left by social workers. But they have no duty of care; the government does. The gap explains the rise in street children too. Asking parents to do more to protect children is being very naive; some parents, particularly fathers, are often accused of sexually abusing their own children.

In the coastal towns, socioeconomic disadvantage has forced parents to turn a blind eye to their children being turned into child prostitutes. Tourism worsens the situation and a spotlight needs to be shone there.

Prison hospitals and other such secure units are the best option for keeping untreatable paedophiles away from society. Let us not forget the importance of sex registers. They are vital in documenting names of those with a record of sexual crimes and, hence, pose a risk to minors and women. It should also form part of the Criminal Record Bureau (CRB) checks for anyone wanting to work with children, as one way of safeguarding the minors.

Castrating child abusers is a solution, too, but too extreme a move and fraught with the risk of miscarriage of justice and human rights abuses if wrongly applied. Instead, let us build a strong database of social workers, psychologists and specialist police who can work with families and schools on child protection issues.

We need to step up a gear on child protection policy and put it on top of any government agenda in order to keep children safe inside and outside homes. Let us put our money where our mouth is.

Ms Guyo is a legal researcher. [email protected] @kdiguyo