Cases of defilement and teenage pregnancies are on the rise in Kisumu, latest reports by the Department of Children show.
As the rest of the World marked the start of 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, reports by various entities indicated that most of the girls were victims of people known to them.
According to the reports, between July 2018 and July 2019, 5,653 cases of teenage pregnancies were reported in the county.
The most vulnerable are girls aged between 15 and 19, with statistics indicating that 5,403 girls falling in that age bracket were teenage mothers.
Experts attributed the worrying statistics to sexual exploitation where the perpetrators lure the young girls to have sex with them for financial gain or any other non-legitimate purpose.
Defilement cases have been on the rise during the first eight months of this year.
Humphrey Wandeo, the department's director, said cases of sodomy have also increased.
“Cases of teenage pregnancies are on the rise and so is sodomy, with street children being the most affected,” said Wandeo.
Child prostitution
According to the reports, Kisumu Central, where child prostitution is rife, recorded 1,068 pregnancies among teenagers aged between 15 and 19 this year.
Teenage mothers between the ages of 10 and 14 were 35, with the statistics also indicating that teenage clients in antenatal clinics shot up by 22 per cent.
An exposé by The Standard, about a week ago, highlighted how child prostitution has increased in the region.
Kisumu West Sub-County, where several cases of defilement have been reported, has recorded 778 teenage pregnancies with 57 children between the ages of 10 and 14 recorded as victims.
Nyando leads in cases of children between ages 10 and 14 becoming pregnant. A report conducted in the area indicates that some 65 cases were reported in the past one year.
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Another report by Jaramogi Odinga Oginga Teaching and Referral Hospital's Gender-Based Violence and Recovery Centre, the county's main referral facility for sexual assault cases, indicates that at least 1,482 defilement cases were reported between January and August this year.
This is up from 886 reported from January to December last year.
In the current statistics, 98 per cent of the victims of defilement are girls.
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