Illiteracy, negative cultural practices and influence from western culture are to blame for the continuous reports of child abuse in Nakuru.
But, those affected fail to come out and seek assistance.
According to a children affairs expert, the vice had taken root in some parts of the county leading to some children resorting to run away from their ancestral homes.
Speaking at the Nakuru Law courts on Tuesday after listening to a case where a woman had sued a former husband for failing to support his children, county coordinator for children affairs Abdi Sheikh Yusuf noted that the cases were rampant calling on the affected individuals not to suffer silently.
“We receive very many case of child abuse on a daily basis, our children are secretly suffering in the hands of parents, teachers and caregivers,” he said.
This, according to Sheikh Abdi can be attributed to an upsurge in domestic violence and absentee parents in different households.
“In case of a fight or any disagreement between parents, children have been forced to take the burden not knowing that it was negatively impacting on them socially and even academically,” he explained.
He added, “A child grows to be rude, anti-social and unruly because of the circumstances under which he is forced to grow.”
He revealed that as an institution, they try to offer guiding and counselling sessions to the affected children as well as talk to the parents on the importance of good parenting.
“When a case goes out of hand, we resort to arresting the perpetrators because our main purpose is to protect the child,” he asserted.
In a report by the Human Rights Commission of Kenya dubbed ‘Effects of Child Abuse in Kenya’, among the findings was that the vice has led to early marriages, teenage pregnancies, street families, school dropouts and in serious case suicide.