Increasing Parents’ Divorce, A Major Threat To Children.
When parents divorce they still have the responsibility to protect their children from abuse and discrimination.
During the International Children’s Day celebrations in Garissa, Township sub-County Children Officer Benjamin Kinyua stated that divorce cases were steadily increasing, leaving a trail of children from one marriage to the next.
Kinyua explained that when parents divorce or separate, children suffer psychologically. Children are also neglected because their mothers abandon them for other marriages.
“We need to establish frameworks to ensure that these children are taken care of in a good environment to enable them to grow to achieve their potential,” he added.
FGM, child marriages, neglect, discrimination and stigmatization of disabled children, and online abuse are among the other issues affecting children.
Kinyua also warned parents, especially Garissa, against resolving disputes through Maslah, an alternative dispute resolution mechanism practiced in Islam, saying criminal cases should only be prosecuted in a court of law.
“When a child is defiled, married off early, or forced to undergo FGM, these cases should be reported to the police and allow the justice system to take the course,” he said.
He says that In most cases, when elders sit to decide these cases, the children do not receive justice because they, for example, requested a certain amount of money or camels, which are given to the parents or divided among the elders.
The children’s office urged residents to come out and report such injustices against children rather than allow the children to suffer in silence.
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Instances of child sexual abuse, gender-based violence (GBV), abandonment, and child-led families are on the rise in Kenya.
Children and adults have been urged to anonymously report cases of child abuse to the National Helpline 116.
Increasing Parents’ Divorce, A Major Threat To Children
