Children at the center of safeguarding.

How often are children involved in their own safeguarding? Often times, children are not engaged in safeguarding as they are often seen as victims. However, children can play a vital role in their own safeguarding if some focus is put into educating them to identify risk factors that the perpetrators exploit in order to abuse them. This approach is critical as it will contribute to the general effort to protect children around the informal settlements of Mukuru and will be helpful to rescue minors and vulnerable persons at risk before actual abuse is orchestrated.

Ruben Centre’s (RC) Advocacy department has conducted a number of sensitization and awareness sessions with children from the ages of 13 to 19 to sensitize them on safeguarding policies and build the culture of self- safeguarding/ protective factors that children can adopt to enhance their safety both at school and at home. The trainings focus on raising the antennae for children and assist them to be proactive in their own safeguarding and to be able to identify red flags and danger signs.

‘The first time I heard the name John was around 2019 or 2020. It was during a forum that I was conducting with students on Children Rights and Forms of abuse that would occur in the community and in school. I discovered a lot of murmuring during the sessions while we were discussing sexual abuse focusing on sodomy. When I probed further, the name John came up. Apparently, John runs a gaming shop where young boys gather to play video games. It is alleged that he uses the video games to take advantage of young boys who lack money for the video games by sodomizing them.’ writer

Four years later, the name John still comes up in Children forums conducted by other consultants facilitating child protection sessions with children in the community. Most boys, school going age know John very well as they have interacted with him a they go to play video games in his shop. It is unfortunate to have a potential perpetrator go through a full cycle without any action being taken against them. But why is this?

From the sessions conducted, it is clear that children know potential abusers and perpetrators around them. However, there is a huge gap in reporting as children are not empowered enough to take their own safeguarding seriously. In the case of John, there has been no victim that has come out to report these abuses and thus it becomes difficult for such pedophiles to be smoked out of the community. As a matter of fact, they get an opportunity to become full-fledged abusers by adopting new tactics to lure the children into their bait.

As it is, the process of handling sexual abuse is complex with victims expected to report cases before elapse of 72 hours to enable investigations to be conducted and other interventions provided including, medical examination, rescue of the victims, arrest of perpetrator and testimonials required to aid in court cases among others. Therefore, lack of reporting or perhaps not knowing the right structures to report to when children detect red flags, makes it dire hard for action to be taken against potential and actual abusers who exists in the community and are well known to the children.

The Advocacy department has continued to sensitize students on a number of other risk factors that put them at a high risk of abuse, characteristics of perpetrators, grooming (Where someone builds a relationship, trust and emotional connection with a child though giving gifts, favors or privileges so they can manipulate, exploit and abuse them), Identifying red flags and the importance of reporting any suspicious actions against them.

The sensitization does not stop at empowering children alone but the education is multi- layered focusing on different key groups in enhancing the safety of children in the community and this entails parents, local administration, learning institutions as well as at the community level. The department has adopted a holistic approach to safeguarding thus holding training's with parents, Community Health Promoters, Community human rights champions well known as paralegals, local leaders among other groups.

These sessions have brought to our attention the challenges that exist in the process of handling child safeguarding issues in the community with impunity perpetuated by local administration being a great hindrance to the safety of children in Mukuru. The first point of contact in the community in instances of insecurity, emergencies and issues occurring in the community is the Nyumba Kumi officials (a government initiative to enhance security in villages), Community Health Promoters, village elders, police and area chief.

Kwamboka, not her real name is a 13-year-old girl living in Mukuru Kwa Njenga. She was in grade 8 in a school near Kwa Njenga and it is alleged that she was sexually abused by a neighbor. The case was reported to the Nyumba Kumi officials who were to work with the police to aid in arresting of the accused person. Kwamboka’s mother reported that the man was picked by two Nyumba Kumi officials who told her they were taking him to the police station only for her to get report that the perpetrator had fled to his rural home. The Nyumba Kumi officials asked her to wait for her 13-year-old daughter to deliver before they can conduct a DNA test to ascertain whether the child belongs to the neighbor. She says she believes the two officials were compromised and assisted the man to flee.

It is believed that quite a number of children issues reported through the community stipulated structures are not handled well and most times money is exchanged in place of justice. For perpetrators who get arrested are later on let free and continue to roam freely in the community and become a threat to victims.

As the department strives to safeguard children beyond the Ruben Centre walls, the first step has been engaging with different groups in a bid to understand the situation, gaps, and systems existing to promote safety of children in the community. There is great need to expand our wings in proactive safeguarding beyond our organization as most cases of abuse happen in the community and at home.

As a department, we have taken initiative to give information on Kephas and other groups in the community taking advantage of minors to the gender desk in the Ruben Police Station for their action in following on the information gathered from children. We have also identified hotspots in the community where minors are violated and thus sensitized parents and children as well as local authorities in order to have a community safe for all children.

By: Margaret Kariuki