2 Sept 2021
Demystifying Child Sex Trafficking
What is Child Sex Trafficking? What causes it? Who’s responsible? How do we prevent it? How do we support survivors? And how do we see justice for victims?
We have partnered with the Wakili.sha Initiative to bring you this very necessary and urgent conversation. We recognize that it’s an emotive topic that’s hardly discussed and often shrouded in mystery. We aim to change that by raising awareness.
It is estimated that there are about 20,000 victims of child sex trafficking in Kenya according to IJM Kenya (https://www.ijm.org/news/ijm-kenya-launches-new-project-to-address-child-sex-trafficking-in-mombasa) and only a fraction of the cases are reported to the police. Additionally, the 2020 Trafficking In (https://www.state.gov/reports/2020-trafficking-in-persons-report/kenya/) Persons Report by the United States Department of State (https://www.state.gov/reports/2020-trafficking-in-persons-report/kenya/) indicated that out of the 853 reported victims of trafficking in Kenya in 2019, 351 were girls and 227 were boys while the DCI’s Transnational Organized Crime Unit (TOCU) proactively identified 144 trafficking victims during raids and encounters with commercial sex establishments. Similarly, a report by the East Africa Rights Child Network (EARCN) on Child Trafficking and Unsafe Migration in Kenya in the time of Covid 19 (https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5bd9f8a7710699aaf0e28fc6/t/5f86f03d5253a74bf8871477/1602678888143/Child+Trafficking+and+Unsafe+Migration+in+Kenya+in+the+time+of+COVID-19_FINAL.pdf), highlighted that Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC) affects many children, who are trafficked into brothels and the sex tourism industry, and cases of Online Child Sexual Exploitation of Children (OCSE) were noted.
To help us dissect this issue, we invited 3 guests:
Timothy Kihungu, Attorney at International Justice Mission (IJM) Kenya (https://www.ijm.org/kenya)
Margaret Njihia, Child Psychologist and Director, Sterling Performance Africa (SPA) (https://spa.co.ke/)i
John Ngoti, Child Therapist, Childline Kenya (https://childlinekenya.co.ke/)
To report any cases of child abuse, neglect, exploitation, or trafficking, call the FREE HOTLINE 116, run by Childline Kenya.
For those who want to reach out and help, please contact us on social media. Follow us on social media (Hague Institute for Innovation of Law (HiiL) Hub East Africa on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/innojusticeea/), Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/innojusticeEA), LinkedIn, (https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/east-africa/)and Twitter (https://twitter.com/innojusticeEA)). Check out our website (https://ea.hiil.org/)!
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