12 million Kenyan children have access to porn, Latest Report Reveals.
According to a report, more than 12 million Kenyan children have online access to adult pornography.
It has also been revealed that most children use their parents’ and friends’ mobile phones and school computers to access pornographic websites.
According to the National Plan of Action to Combat Online Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (OCSEA) report, 55% of Kenya’s 21.9 million children have widespread access to pornography and are vulnerable to sexual exploitation.
Research findings from the state department of Social Protection, Senior Citizens Affairs, and Special Programs, as well as UNICEF, reveal that children are widely engaged in ‘online dating,’ but do not consider it abuse because there is no physical touching taking place.
During the report‘s launch in Nairobi, stakeholders expressed their concern about worrying trends of children being subjected to online abuse and sexual exploitation, with online grooming being the most commonly reported by OCSEA.
Professor Margaret Kobia, Cabinet Secretary of the Ministry of Public Service, Gender, Senior Citizens Affairs, and Special Programmes, stated that children’s rights are at risk of being violated due to crimes such as sexual exploitation and abuse facilitated by digital technologies that are meant to be beneficial.
She observed that the Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated the alarming trends that call for children to be protected in the digital environment.
The five-year action plan, which will run from 2022 to 2026, is intended to guide the government, industry, policymakers, civil society organizations, and communities in taking the necessary steps to ensure children’s internet safety.
According to the report, nearly two-thirds of children identified as victims globally between 2006 and 2014 were female, and since 2010, the number of self-taken images each year has exceeded more than 40% of the total number of images identified by Interpol.
While all children are vulnerable to online abuse and exploitation, children with disabilities and those living in or from refugee and displaced communities are particularly vulnerable.
Children in Kenya have low levels of awareness of the risks posed by the internet, as well as limited knowledge of how to seek help or report concerns.
Most children understand the risks associated with cyberbullying but are less aware of the potential risks associated with sexual issues online, according to the report.
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During the launch, UNICEF Country Representative Maniza Zaman stated that over 1,300 Kenyan children have already shared sexual, naked, or semi-naked images or videos of their bodies with other internet users, and three million others have gone on to have a physical meeting with a stranger they first met online.
“Our children have become the target of this new dark thing and the key is in prevention. We need to educate our children so that they, too, can be in the frontline to protect themselves,” said Matheka.
Some of the challenges and gaps will be addressed, according to stakeholders, if the Children Bill, which is currently in the Senate, passes.
