ODPP: We're handling 892 cases of defilement at the Coast

The Office of the Director of Prosecutions has said it is handling 892 cases of defilement at the Coast that occurred between 2023 and 2024.

Transcript

00:00and we narrowed down to Kuale because we realized there are so many offenses

00:04that are coming from this county particularly on children and I think in the course of

00:12the few weeks or the months something will be done because we want to understand why

00:18Kuale for example has a very high number compared to other counties like Taita Taveta.

00:24Could be population, could be the lifestyle.

00:29But at least this information has been brought to other government agencies and we want to discuss

00:34and find solutions to this problem. The Kenya demographic and health survey 2022 shows 14.8

00:42percent of girls aged between 15 and 19 have ever been pregnant. Whether it resulted in children is

00:50a different question but this is a huge number. With this reality on prevalence of sexual violence

00:58against women and children gaps in the justice system mean that offenders act with impunity,

01:04victims have no access to justice or support services and millions of vulnerable women and

01:10children live without protection. We tend to move to prevention from reactive that we are here

01:17reporting you know investigation, prosecution and the world of judicial process. Already the

01:23child has been harmed. What are we going to do as a team to reduce those cases? As a prosecutor who

01:30exercises his mind and of course being guided by the judicial guidelines may feel that you need a

01:37little bit more bullets in order to fire you know properly and sometimes those kind of situations

01:43cause a bit of delay but it's not because of perhaps lack of seriousness on our part.

01:50We want something which when it goes to court it will stand the test of scrutiny. Protecting

01:57women and children against violence is an obligation shared by many different actors

02:03involving both state and non-state actors. Policing is one of the essential services

02:11over coordinated multi-sectoral response to violence against women and children.