This archive report was first published on 26 September 2019.
Published on September 26, 2019, authorities in Kisumu County have raised alarm over increasing cases of defilement.
According to the latest figures from Jaramogi Odinga Oginga Teaching and Referral Hospital's (JOOTRH) Gender-Based Violence and Recovery Center, at least 1,482 defilement cases have been reported between January and August this year.
This is up from 886 cases reported from January to December last year, with 98% of the victims being girls.
Of the defilement cases reported this year, only 36 have been taken to court, a significant decrease from last year.
July this year recorded the highest number of defilement cases at 352, followed by August with 247.
Lavine Achieng, the head of Heart to Heart Foundation, an NGO that deals with gender-based violence, said that most families fear to report defilement cases due to the stigmatisation that comes with it.
However, Pamela Mokeira, a manager at JOOTRH, attributes the high number of cases recorded this year to more people coming out to report the abuse.
Kisumu County Director of Gender and Social Services Joel Okumu attributes the increasing numbers of defilement cases to moral disintegration in society.
He also attributes the increase of cases in the months of March, April, July, and August to school-going children being home during the holidays, making them easy targets for perpetrators.
