How safe are our daughters in boarding schools?

Parents, guardians, alumnis and members of the civil society demonstrate in solidarity outside Moi Girls School, Nairobi calling for thorough investigations, arrests of culprits and an end to sexual abuse in schools. June 4, 2018. [Jonah Onyango, Standard]

The rape of a student at Moi Girls’ High School, Nairobi, should not just be regarded as a crime, but a wake-up call to carry out an audit on safety of learners in schools.

The Moi Girls’ incident is not an isolated case as in recent days following the attack, there have been reports of rape or attempted rape of girls in various schools across the country. In the past, there had been cases of schoolgirls being subjected to violence. In mind is the ugly incident in 1991, when 19 girls were killed and 71 others raped by their male counterparts at St Kizito Mixed Secondary School in Meru.