Cases of sexual violence against young girls on the rise in Kisumu County

There is a major concern over the increasing cases of sexual and gender based violence against young girls and boys below the age of 17 years in Kisumu County. According to the coordinator of the Gender Based Violence Centre at Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral hospital, out of the 300 sexual violence cases reported at the facility since its establishment last year, 70% were young girls below the age of 17 years. He also revealed that cases of sodomy were also on the rise in Kisumu County but most of them went unreported due to fear of stigmatization.

Moreover, he revealed that 95% of the cases that have been recorded at the Centre involved females, with a few cases of sodomy involving children who are normally brought in by their parents. However, those involving older men went unreported due to fear of stigmatization.