More children are being abused in Nairobi more than any other County, a new report by ChildLine Kenya has revealed.

According to the Child Protection Report (2006-2016), which was launched yesterday, more than 30,000 cases of child abuse were reported in the last 10 years with child neglect (13,878), sexual abuse (7,832) and physical abuse (7,317).

ChildLine Kenya Executive Director George Kidenda said that child negligence exposes a child to all the other forms of abuse.

“The prevalence of child neglect is a gateway to other cases of abuse such as sexual and physical abuse,” he said.

Nairobi County takes the lead in reported cases of all forms of abuse on children, followed by Kiambu County. Semi-arid regions like Marsabit, Lamu and Wajir recorded the least incidents of child abuse.

The report attributes the high number of child abuse cases reported in Nairobi to there being more awareness.

Kakamega and Nakuru counties also recorded high child abuse cases

According to Kidenda, Fathers and uncles were the biggest perpetrators of sexual abuse on their daughters.

Unfortunately, the most trusted people in a child’s life are the same people that lead in abusing them sexually. Within this reporting period, fathers took the lead in abusing their daughters sexually followed by the uncles. Age group 6-10 years seems to have been at the highest risk of being abused followed by 11-15 years,” said Kidenda.

Childline Kenya has been running a toll-free 24-hour National Child Helpline 116 that allows Kenyans to report child abuse.

Rape cases on the rise

Cases of rape have been on the rise in the country lately with children making up the highest number of victims. According to police statistics, rape of children (defilements) accounts for 78% of all rape cases reported.

Even though Kenya has legislation on sexual offences, there has been a lack of proper law enforcement in investigating such cases, such that perpetrators hardly face the law, an ill that has been attributed to the rising numbers of rape.