AGENG’O: Hidden scars our children carry, national call to end harmful practices

Across Kenya, children are growing up with invisible wounds inflicted not by strangers, but by practices many still consider normal or sacred.

Some of these violations happen in broad daylight, others unfold at night, across borders or inside homes long before any adult outside the family becomes aware. The reality is that harmful cultural practices have not disappeared.

They have simply adapted to survive.

During the National Learning Convening on Preventing and Responding to Harmful Practices held from December 2 to 4 at Safari Park, a clear picture emerged.

The practices affecting children today look very different from those of a generation ago. Communities are shifting methods, hiding rituals, medicalising procedures and moving ceremonies to avoid detection.

Yet the harm to children remains severe. This new landscape requires sharper visibility, stronger systems and more coordinated action.

The Children Act (2022) significantly expanded the definition of harmful practices in Kenya. It now captures female genital mutilation, child marriage, virginity testing, girl child beading, intersex genital mutilation, forced male circumcision and harmful cultural or religious rituals that injure or shame a child.

This wider definition reflects the real breadth of violations children face today.

Female genital mutilation remains one of the most severe forms of harm. Nationally, the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey (KDHS 2022) shows that FGM prevalence has dropped from 38 per cent in 1998 to about 15 per cent today. Yet some counties still record levels approaching ninety per cent. Child marriage affects thirteen per cent of girls and three per cent of boys, cutting short education and exposing children to early pregnancy, violence and lifetime vulnerability.

Other violations, though less publicly discussed, inflict serious harm. Virginity testing traumatises girls and reinforces stigma. Girl child beading pushes young girls into exploitative sexual arrangements disguised as culture.

Forced male circumcision exposes boys to unsafe procedures and emotional distress. Intersex children often undergo irreversible surgeries in infancy without the chance to participate in decisions about their own bodies.

National surveys such as KDHS and the Violence Against Children Survey (VACS 2019) give Kenya strong, credible prevalence data. They help the country understand long-term trends and measure progress. However, they do not capture all forms of harmful practices or programmatic data.

Kenya’s legal framework remains one of the strongest on the continent. The Constitution prohibits harmful cultural practices. The Children Act (2022) outlaws them explicitly. The Prohibition of FGM Act (2011) criminalises all forms of cutting. The Marriage Act (2014) sets eighteen as the legal age of marriage.

The Sexual Offences Act (2006) and the Penal Code protect children from exploitation. The Basic Education Act (2013) safeguards the right to education, while the Counter Trafficking in Persons Act (2010) addresses cross-border exploitation linked to early marriage and FGM. These laws form a powerful foundation, but laws alone cannot eliminate deeply rooted practices.

Across the country, government efforts are expanding to match the evolving nature of these harms. Social protection programmes such as the Presidential Bursary and cash transfers help keep vulnerable girls in school.

In drought-prone counties, emergency interventions now include monitoring for child marriage and other harmful practices. Schools and community safe spaces continue to provide protection, with teachers and children officers detecting emerging risks.

Partnerships with faith leaders have strengthened. The government, working closely with the interreligious council, has developed a National Child Safeguarding Handbook to guide churches, mosques and temples in preventing harm.

Behaviour change campaigns have amplified this work. The Anti FGM Board’s My Dear Daughter initiative, Alternative Rites of Passage and the Spot it Stop it campaign aim to challenge long-held beliefs.

Child protection services have expanded across all forty-seven counties and sub-counties. Child Protection Offices and the 116 toll-free helpline handled more than twenty-five thousand interventions of child Protection. Children Officers in various counties continue to create awareness and rescue, counsel, and reintegrate through education, vocational support and safe family placement.

Kenya is strengthening the Child Protection Information Management System to ensure all indicators of harmful practices are captured consistently and shared across sectors. At the same time, the country is preparing its first comprehensive National Survey on Harmful Practices, which will document all forms of violations recognised under the Children Act.

The draft National Strategy on Prevention and Response to Harmful Practices and the new National Male Engagement Program will further anchor prevention, community partnerships and accountability.

Ending harmful practices requires strong systems, reliable data and community leadership. Kenya has made real progress, but harmful practices still cast long shadows over childhood. No child should carry scars inflicted in the name of culture. Every child deserves dignity, safety and protection.

 Carren Ageng’o, Principal Secretary, State Department for Children Services