REPORT ON CHILD SEX TRAFFICKING IN KENYA BY INTECHOPEN: Read the full article here.

“The price for young girls between 10 and 15 years who are sold for sex with a tourist in Mombasa is $600, but boys are trafficked into sex tourism as well, whereas others engage in sex tourism as a means to an end”.

Child trafficking accounts for the majority of 72% of sexual exploitation. Some child sexual exploitation includes child prostitution, pornography, trafficking of children for sexual purposes, and child marriage. It is estimated that 1.8 million children are exploited in prostitution and pornography worldwide. Kenya is an origin country for children trafficked to Chad, France, Spain, Rwanda, Germany, Netherlands, Uganda, Italy, and Tanzania. As an end country, Kenya harbors children trafficked from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, Uganda, South Sudan, Ethiopia, and Tanzania. In addition, Kenya is a transit point for children trafficked from the Democratic Republic of Congo to Ethiopia, Uganda to Somalia, and Tanzania to Burundi. The most heinous of the various forms of child trafficking is sexual exploitation, where the victims are forced, coerced, or deceived into the trafficking networks.

FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO CHILD TRAFFICKING:

1. High poverty levels

2. Rural migration

3. Growth in travel and tourism

4. Erosion of social norms and morals

CHALLENGES IN THE FIGHT AGAINST CHILD SEX TRAFFICKING:

1. Insufficient data

2. Advancement in technology and the Internet

3. Inadequate social protection mechanisms for the children

4. Traditional practices, such as early marriages in some communities

5. Corruption

Faith was nine years old (not her real name )when she was trafficked from northern Kenya to Mombasa for domestic work by a friend of her mother. Their journey took one week, and each day, she was being sexually abused by a different man. Her mother’s friend told her that she was preparing her for a relationship with a white man. When she arrived in Mombasa, she was forced to start sex work. A good Samaritan later rescued her on the beach while she was on the run and taken to a rescue shelter.

Child sex tourism and commercial sexual exploitation of children consist of criminal practices that demean and threaten children's physical and psychological integrity. Child sex trafficking has a devastating impact on children, including long-lasting trauma, sexually transmitted infections, unplanned pregnancies and abortions, and mental health problems, such as depression and suicidal ideation. The commercial sexual exploitation is a fundamental violation of children’s rights. …the child is treated as a sexual and commercial object.

A classroom course will involve case studies, videos, and student-centered learning activities to enhance the learning experience. Trafficking Awareness Training program that provides students with an in-depth understanding of current indicators.

The second half will be hands-on techniques of how to escape from human trafficking or anybody who is trying to attack you. It’s a self-defense course. All these classes will be age-appropriate.