This archive report was first published on 9 August 2019.
Published on August 9, 2019, a report by the BBC revealed that some parents in Kenya are administering contraceptives to children as young as 10 in an effort to keep them in school.
According to the report, one in five girls between the ages of 15 and 19 in Kenya are either pregnant or have a child already, with Kwale County experiencing some of the highest rates of girls dropping out of school due to pregnancy.
A reproductive health nurse in Kwale County expressed concern that many of the girls seeking contraceptives are below the age of 14, and that their primary concern is pregnancy prevention, rather than protection against HIV or sexually transmitted infections.
Proposals to introduce sex education in schools have been met with criticism from political leaders, who have termed the idea 'immoral', while religious leaders have also spoken out against the proposal.