By Agnetta Okwemba
More than 150 cases of child abuse have been reported at Msambweni Law Courts over the past one year.
According to Msambweni Law Courts Magistrate Leah Kabaria, they have recieved about 67 cases of child abuse since the start of the year 2024.
Speaking during the launch of Children Justice Month at Al Walidayn Children Centre in Kwale County, Kabaria expressed her fear due to the increase in the cases compared to the 85 cases they opened last year.
“This means that in every month, 6 kids go through sexual harassment,” she said.
Kabaria further explains that the cases do not only involve sexual abuse but there are other cases of burglary and armed robbery.
The cases however are said to take a long time in courts pending judgement.
Kabaria acknowledged the issue stating that the challenge has been lack of sufficient evidence for the case judgement.
“We are trying our best to solve these pending cases in courts,” she said.
Parents were urged to trust the courts in providing judgement and not be tempted to take the law into one’s own hands by resorting to using Kangaroo courts or village solutions.
Children Justice Month seeks to educate the society about the rights of a child and that they should be protected at all costs.
This is a way that will help in reducing the cases of abuse amongst the young ones.
“We want to not only educate parents on their children’s rights but also have children understand their own rights,” explained Kivuli Hamasa, Children’s Officer, Msambweni.
He added that they want to sensitize the society on how they can report on such cases when they occur for judgement to take place in the courts.
