Alarm as 4,000 girls fall victim to teenage pregnancies in Kilifi

 4,091 school-going girls aged between 10 and 18 years were impregnated in Kilifi County. [iStockphoto]

At least 4,091 school-going girls aged between 10 and 18 years were impregnated in Kilifi County in the first six months of this year.

This is according to a new report by the county’s health department.

The report attributes the rise in teenage pregnancies to parents’ negligence and retrogressive cultural practices such as forced marriages and poverty. Health officials and girl rights crusaders fear the number could increase by the end of the year if nothing is done to remedy the situation.

Kilifi Chief Officer for Gender, Culture and Social Services Agneta Karembo called for a collaborative approach to combat the teenage pregnancy crisis in the county.

Ms Karembo warned parents who were extorting money and accepting favours from their underage daughters’ lovers, noting that childbearing in adolescence often affects young mothers and their babies.

“Many girls continue to experience complications including high mortality rate due to birth-related complications and unsafe abortions,’’ Karembo said.

She said the county is set to launch a Gender-Based Violence (GBV) Policy on November 25 to sensitise the community to abandon outdated cultural practices contributing to teenage pregnancies.

The policy will also help address cases of early pregnancies and gender-based violence by providing early GBV response as well as help in terms of budget allocation and providing a legal framework according to Karembo.

According to the report, there were 136 new HIV infections among teenage mothers during their first antenatal visits in 2022, and out of this, 66 of them died, as they refused to take ARVS drugs due to stigma.

Dorcas Gitonga, a sexual and reproductive health rights programme officer at Kenya Legal Ethical Issues Network (KELIN), said they were working with the county government to re-draft the new gender policy.

‘’We need to address the inequalities that prevent young women and girls from accessing sexual and reproductive health rights, including HIV prevention, testing, and treatment services.

“Policymakers need to focus on eliminating the inequalities fueling teenage pregnancies, GBV, and slowing progress against the HIV pandemic,” she said.

KELIN provides technical and financial support to Kilifi County to implement the gender policy and advocate for health rights.

Parents who spoke to The Standard attributed the increasing teenage pregnancies to a lack of awareness of the risk involved, failure to uphold family values and moral decadence.

Grace Kaingu, a parent said most families believe sex is a taboo to discuss with their children.