In early 2019, the End Violence Partnership invested $7 million to develop Disrupting Harm, a holistic and innovative research project that aims to better understand how digital technology facilitates the sexual exploitation and abuse of children.

By Disrupting Harm

The Disrupting Harm Partnership brought together and funded three global organisations – ECPAT International, INTERPOL and the UNICEF Office of Research – Innocenti – to undertake new research in 13 countries across Eastern and Southern Africa and Southeast Asia. This type of high-quality research and assessment is new and unique in that it uses a multi-sector approach and the specific expertise of these three global agencies and their local partners.

We have launched our first country report – Kenya.

Disrupting Harm in Kenya is the first in a series of reports which shares the findings of children’s perceptions of and participation in various online practices, as well as their experiences of online child sexual exploitation. The report has highlighted a number of key areas when dealing with online child sexual exploitation and abuse:

• Internet-using children in Kenya are subjected to OCSEA. Most offenders are someone the child already knows. These crimes can happen online or in person but involving technology.
• Among those who were subjected to OCSEA, Facebook and WhatsApp were the most common social media platforms where this occurred.
• The law enforcement, justice, and social support systems need greater awareness, capacity, and resources to respond to cases of OCSEA.
• Important OCSEA-related legislation, policies, and standards are yet to be enacted in Kenya.

READ AT END-VIOLENCE.ORG