Inside chemical castration push for child sex offenders

 

Surgical instruments on a tray. [AFP]

Men who defile children may soon face castration if recommendations by a task force on sexual violence are implemented by the government.

The Technical Working Group on Gender-Based Violence (GBV), established by President William Ruto, has proposed amendments to the Sexual Offences Act, 2006, introducing mandatory chemical castration for child offenders.

The controversial proposal was informed by the prevalence of sexual abuse against children in Kenya, including cases where caregivers and parents are involved.

Chemical castration refers to the use of medication to reduce male testosterone to prepubertal levels. Since the mid-20th century, reports have detailed this practice in attempts to control pathological sexual behaviour.

In the report, coastal counties reported high incidences of sex tourism, with Kakamega County emerging as a GBV hotspot.

According to the report, women and girls in border counties like Busia, Migori, and Kwale are vulnerable to sexual exploitation and trafficking, often under the pretence of job offers.

The taskforce, led by Dr Nancy Baraza, identified seasonal farming cycles, school calendars, tourism hubs, and public transport as key drivers of femicide and gender-based violence across the country.

In Uasin Gishu, physical violence increases sharply during the harvesting season, likely due to economic stress, labour exploitation, or domestic conflicts over resources. Defilement cases also rise during school openings and closures, when children are unsupervised or idle.

The Working Group conducted its research through public and in-camera hearings, consultations with GBV survivors, and visits to state and non-state institutions.

Coastal hotspot

The coastal region was singled out as a hotspot for child sex tourism, with Kwale, Mombasa, Kilifi, Lamu, and Malindi cited as areas where girls from poor families are lured into exploitative situations with promises of financial support or jobs.

READ: GBV taskforce proposes chemical castration for child sex offenders

Most femicide cases involve victims in their 20s and 30s and are linked to romantic relationships, social isolation, or online dating.

Matatu crews and boda boda operators were identified as perpetrators of harassment and sexual assault, especially during early morning and late evening hours, with victims, including women working night shifts, market vendors, and bar attendants.

Learning institutions are also sites of sexual harassment, where grooming and exploitation occur at the hands of teachers, caretakers, and older peers. Defilement in primary and secondary schools by drivers and other support staff often goes unreported due to victim-blaming or community cohesion pressures.

Cultural practices

Retrogressive cultural practices, such as Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and child marriage, remain prevalent in Kisii, Narok, and Samburu. Vihiga, Kakamega, and Busia counties report high levels of incest, frequently perpetrated within extended families and often unreported due to stigma.

Adolescent girls out of school are particularly vulnerable to rape, transactional sex, and early marriage. Physical and sexual violence severely affect victims’ physical, emotional, and social well-being.

The findings come amid heightened public concern over a surge in GBV incidents, including femicide cases, despite Kenya’s progressive constitutional and legal framework guaranteeing gender equality and protection of life.

Systemic barriers

The multi-sectoral team highlighted that weak implementation of existing laws, entrenched patriarchal norms, low accountability, and fragmented support systems continue to expose survivors to violence while enabling perpetrators to act with near impunity.

One of the signposts established in Homa Bay Town to aid in the campaign against Gender Based Violence. [James Omoro, Standard]

“Survivors face systemic and social barriers in accessing justice, protection, and recovery services. Many cases are underreported, poorly handled, or informally settled at the family or community level, undermining justice and reinforcing impunity,” reads part of the report. A critical gap identified by the team is the absence of a clear legal definition or stand-alone offence of femicide in Kenyan law. Currently, femicide cases are prosecuted under general murder provisions, leading to inconsistent handling and inadequate data for prevention and accountability.

While physical and sexual violence attract policy attention, other pervasive forms of GBV, including economic, psychological, and online abuse, remain largely overlooked. Vulnerable groups, such as persons with disabilities, as well as men and boys, face compounded invisibility in both discourse and response mechanisms.

Informal justice

The report raises alarm over widespread obstruction of justice at family and community levels, where GBV and femicide cases are often resolved through clan elders or informal mechanisms. These processes frequently involve coercion, victim-blaming, and silencing, particularly where bride price, family honour, or kinship ties are involved.

Informal justice forums, such as Nyumba Kumi structures and chiefs’ barazas, are neither legally empowered nor adequately trained to handle serious criminal offences. In many cases, reconciliation or compensation is prioritised over prosecution, allowing perpetrators to evade justice.

Harmful cultural practices, including early child marriage, widow cleansing, beading, and the medicalisation of FGM, continue unabated despite years of advocacy.

The taskforce also warned of growing misuse of technology, noting that social media has become a space for victim-blaming, misinformation, and the circulation of graphic content that retraumatises survivors and families.

The absence of digital ethics guidelines and low digital literacy, the report said, has normalised online gender-based violence and deepened a culture of desensitisation and impunity.

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The Working Group further cited chronic underfunding and fragmented coordination of GBV interventions at both national and county levels. Most survivor services remain donor-dependent, making them vulnerable to shifting geopolitical priorities. Counties often lack dedicated budgets, trained personnel and referral infrastructure to sustain timely and localised responses.

Proposed reforms

To address the crisis, the team proposed sweeping legal, policy and institutional reforms. Among its key recommendations are amending the Penal Code to define and codify femicide as a distinct offence, declaring GBV, including femicide, a national crisis, triggering emergency resources and high-level political attention and establishing a National GBV and Femicide Response Fund drawing contributions from government, development partners, the private sector and philanthropists.

It also called for mandatory CCTV installation in short-stay rentals, lodgings and commercial accommodation facilities, criminalising family- or clan-led settlements and interference in GBV cases and amending the Sexual Offences Act to bar withdrawal of GBV cases once prosecution begins and to impose strict timelines for case determination. Further, it recommended criminalising FGM and strengthening penalties for child sex offenders and the creation of a national GBV Management Information System, a Femicide Observatory and a real-time public dashboard to track trends and guide prevention.

The team also recommended professionalising community dispute resolution structures through mandatory training, embedding paralegals in informal justice systems, expanding One-Stop GBV Recovery Centres across all counties, and rolling out nationwide public education campaigns to dismantle harmful gender norms.

The taskforce in the report warned that the normalisation of gender-based violence and femicide poses a direct threat to constitutional rights, community cohesion and national development.

“Addressing this crisis demands more than reforms on paper. It requires transformative action anchored in law, financed with intent, driven by data, conscious of family dynamics, digitally responsible and rooted in dignity for survivors,” the report states.

The team urged swift implementation of its recommendations, noting that without decisive action, Kenya risks entrenching a cycle of violence that continues to claim lives and erode public trust in justice institutions.