Shocking! 200 boys are sexually abused daily in Kenya

dennis kibet

March 15, 2017 7:32 AM

Nairobi and Kiambu counties topped the list where emotional, physical and economic deprivation were prevalent among men.

Over 200 boys are sexually abused in the country, of which only 10 cases are reported.

This is according to research conducted by the Maendeleo ya Wanaume Organisation revealed between April last year and January this year spread across 10 counties.

Among the counties mapped in the research include Nairobi, Kiambu, Meru, Homabay, Nakuru and Nyeri.

The study also reveals that seven out of 10 men experience physical and emotional violence.

A further 2.8 million men have been victims of domestic violence in Kenya revealing that violence against men and the boy child was a rights abuse which largely goes unreported.

The report identified stigma, fear of rejection, embarrassment and fear of accelerated violence as some of the reasons men fail to seek help or report the assault.

“I therefore raise a red flag to mark this black day. It is a sad state of affairs for men and boys in Kenya. When we are talking of about 200 boys being defiled daily across the country, we are talking about rape by boys against fellow boys,” Maendeleo ya Wanaume Organisation Chairman Nderitu Njoka said during the release of the findings.

On Wednesday, Maseno School Principal Paul Otula was interdicted following claims that a Form One student was sodomised by senior students.

According to the student whose story caused public uproar in January, a school captain and two others had sexually molested him.

Sexual Offences Act

Njoka appealed for the amendment of the Sexual Offence Act to ensure both offences carry the same sentences as rape and defilement against females.

"The Constitution discriminates against the male at the expense of female by bracketing them as marginalised and assuming all men are empowered," Njoka said.

According to the Sexual Offences Act, “Any person who attempts to unlawfully and intentionally commit an act which causes penetration with his or her genital organs is guilty of the offence of attempted rape and is liable upon conviction for imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than five years but which may be enhanced to imprisonment for life.”

The research recommends circumcision of boys be made free and banning of shorts in schools and traditional circumcision, which Njoka said placed men and boys at risk of HIV infection.

dennis kibet