The Garden of Hope Foundation (GOH) and the Compassion and Mercy Integrated Development Organization (COMIDO) held a workshop on sexual assault awareness for children in Mukuru on November 4. It was the first workshop on this issue in Mukuru and trained 34 teachers from different schools on how to be aware of and react to sexual violence issues toward children.

The workshop included a series of teacher training classes, a demonstrative teaching class for the children, and a talk on Parents’ Day. It targeted people from both schools and homes, as they are on the front line of children’s protection. It aimed to improve the early discovery of sexual violence toward children by raising awareness of this difficult and usually-hidden topic. Teachers have learned how to teach their students of all ages to protect themselves in daily life; parents have learned how to discover if violence is happening and how to react and support their children in such situations. The participants had a lively discussion on the topic, bringing their experiences and problems to the table.

One parent said, “We need to know how to deal with this issue and how to communicate with our children.” A teacher from COMIDO said, “It was very good to attend this workshop because it truly happens, and we could hardly do anything about it. We should try to talk about this issue with the children.”

Sexual assault is a serious problem in Kenya. According to the Kenya Violence Against Children Study (Kenya VACS) by UNICEF in 2010, 32% of females and 18% of males experienced sexual violence during childhood. The most common perpetrators of sexual violence for females and males were found to be romantic partners: boys accounted for 47% of perpetrators and girls for 43%. This was followed by male and female neighbors, at 27% and 21%, respectively. The situation is even more complicated in Mukuru because of its complex condition.

COMIDO was aware of the issue and organized the workshop with GOH under the latter’s “Kenya Girls Empowerment Project” to share Taiwan’s experiences with child protection. From 2012 to 2015, GOH worked with African leadership in South Africa on the topic of sexual assault awareness. GOH developed the Kenyan project based on the South African experience to extend its girls’ rights advocacy in Africa. The project mainly focuses on progress and promoting girls’ rights in Kenya, especially in rural areas. GOH believes that girls’ values will be well-recognized and hence create a comparatively equal and violence-free world by providing education and advocacy in schools and the community.

Project Coordinator Rebeca Hung said, “Sexual assault happens around the world, but it is avoidable.” Taiwan was a very patriarchal society. Sexual assault used to be shameful for the survivor and the family and was thus kept a secret. But after twenty years of education and advocacy, society has learned how to understand both survivors and perpetrators and try to help them in every aspect. GOH hopes its experience in Taiwan can encourage Kenya to find its own way toward women and girls’ empowerment. The project was to continue and extend to another level with more creative, community-oriented content to other regions in Kenya.