**4. The challenge of addressing child sex trafficking in Kenya**

Trafficking in human beings despite a modern-day legal issue has a lengthy political and legal history. There is a lack of sufficient, relevant data on sex trafficking which makes it harder to measure and track the scale of the problem and develop effective responses. Therefore, social protection mechanisms currently in place are inadequate when it comes to preventing or addressing the vulnerabilities that expose women and girls to trafficking for sexual exploitation in the first place. Technological advances, in particular, the Internet and mobile devices have facilitated the sex trafficking of children by providing a convenient worldwide marketing channel. Individuals can now use websites and social media to advertise, schedule, and purchase sexual encounters with minors.

Due to the endemic socio-economic problem faced by Kenyan children, they are not able to fully realize their constitutional protections. Other challenging factors that lead to child sex trafficking are African poverty, armed conflicts, and instability, as well as traditional practices, such as early marriages, female genital mutilation, and the vulnerability of families who have little social and legal protection. However, conviction rates for trafficking for sexual exploitation remain low amid challenges such as underreporting and few prosecutions [29]. Kenya has ratified and acceded to various international instruments that seek to address child trafficking and protect the best interest of the child.

#### **4.1 Social stigma during the process of reintegration**

The experience of child sex trafficking does not always stop when trafficking ends, many victims continue to suffer the harmful effects of trafficking, and face additional

and evolving long after they have left the trafficking situation. Child sex trafficking experiences affect the victim's well-being and create tension and emotional problems in their relationships and interactions with family, community, and wider society. Reintegration efforts hence need to consider and address the social stigma impact on victims of child sex trafficking at individual, family, community, and structural levels.

Children trafficked for sexual exploitation experience social stigma in the family and community as well as experience shame from their past life. Stigma is a social construct that varies from one community to another. Goffman defines stigma as "an undesirable or discrediting attribute that an individual possesses, thus reducing that individual's status in the eyes of society [30]." Social Stigma is a widely used term to explain the feelings and experiences of shame due to different physical deformities or negative attitudes and behaviors [31]. For survivors of sexual trafficking, the shame and isolation that follow can be divesting.

In many African cultures, the association with the sex industry is highly stigmatized where the children end up losing their identity by being placed in an institution or adopted into a family. The individual or social stigma is often marked with shame, disgrace, reproach, or even a strain on a person's good reputation. Therefore, the concept of social stigma theory explains why survivors of child sex trafficking are faced with stigmatization, humiliation, and discrimination by family and society, as well as their experience of shame. Besides, consideration of child rights is authoritative to ensure that the rights of each child receiving and needing reintegration support are not to be negotiated in any way. The family unit is a key path to the cohesiveness of society in addressing child trafficking issues, underlying social structural factors are on the family level. Reintegration of trafficked children is often a difficult, complex, and long-term process, which lies in the fact that it is different for each child and it involves not only the survivor but also the family, community, environment, and culture within which the process is taking place. The actual handing over of survivors of a trafficked child into the families and communities is one of the major challenges. The problems such as; stigma, rejection devaluing their self-esteem and shame, and self-loss of identity. However, the children anticipated these negative approaches because being into 'sexual exploitation or prostitution' makes their lives too difficult upon their return to their families and communities.

Burkitt depicted that most victims are mainly concerned with giving an understanding of questions such as *"where do they go, who they are and how to disclose themselves to society"* due to their trauma experiences, some children find it hard to re-connect their past and the present, especially the young ones [32]. Some communities believe that trafficked children should not expose themselves to the public because of hate and disgust in society and that they bring social evil from their past work in the sex trade. The stigma attached to the children who are victims of trafficking, and particularly to any association with sexual exploitation, is significant for individuals, families, and communities and can have severe consequences, seriously impeding their recovery and reintegration. Besides, fear and shame often lead many victims to remain silent about their experiences of abuse and are blocked by fear to warn others who might be vulnerable to trafficking. The children who were involved in prostitution, risk rejection, isolation, and being labeled as prostitutes, and could be easily attacked, or even murdered by the family or community for the "scandal", they have brought upon their families and society [33].

Similarly, trafficked children for ritual cleansing, are potential HIV carriers and are likely to face negative stereotypes in the community leading to double stigmatization as well as rejection or refer as a witch who is supposed to be put on the blaze. This is related to values, attitudes, and mindsets within the families and the communities because the local culturally dominant values systems and moral code, hold negative views and attitudes toward child victims of sexual exploitation to work to support their return. It is important to involve and educate the family and the community in participation in the reintegration process since the family members bear the burden of social stigmatization as well. Therefore, the family and the community require an understanding that survivor of child sexual exploitation needs homecoming acceptance since they still carry with them the stigma of shame from their experiences.

### **4.2 Corruption and child sex trafficking in Kenya**

Corruption is worse than sexual exploitation or prostitution. The latter might endanger the morals of an individual; the former invariably endangers the morals of an entire country. Corruption is presently one of the major challenges facing the human race. The world over, corruption is increasingly being seen as a threat to human existence to the extent that some commentators have called for it to be recognized as a 'crime against humanity.

Kenya is a regional hub for trade and finance in East Africa but has been hampered by corruption. In Kenya, corruption has always existed in different forms and is not determined by political or geographical. It exploits the human person for selfish interests and results in gross injustice and human rights abuse. Kenya ranked 18th out of 180 corruption perception index in 2021. Kenya has adopted specific penalties against trafficking in children in the counter-trafficking in person Act 2010. However, there is still a gap when addressing crime while ensuring the protection of victims. The challenge remains because the number of trafficked children is still rising steeply [34].

Trafficking in human beings despite being a modern-day legal issue has a lengthy political and legal history [35]. Corruption in public officials linked to the phenomenon of trafficking for purpose of sexual exploitation can take place along the entire criminal chain at the place of origin or recruitment of the victim, during transit and at the destination, but also within the justice and victims protection systems. Forgery and criminal association, the distraction among these phenomena is not clear. Corruption in sectors of the Kenyan government perpetuates traffickers' ability to obtain fraudulent identity documents from complicit government officials. The opportunity for corruption takes place in the trafficking chain, in the criminal justice, and during the protection and support of victims or survivors. Since a child, trafficking is connected to crimes such as illegal child, and parent/guardian immigration. Corruption plays a part in facilitating the trafficking process. Most of the trafficked children reported cases to indicate that government participation and complicity are involved.

In November 2020, the BBC Africa Eye brought to light a baby-stealing syndicate in Kenya after a year of investigation. The syndicate of stolen babies from poor and homeless women, primarily single mothers who lived in informal settlements. This criminal enterprise benefited financially from snatching many children of their mothers. A baby girl fetched \$500 while a baby boy fetched \$ 750 in the market. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ix5jbCmiDU [36]. Bureaucrats accept bribes from traffickers in return for allowing them to cross the border, get forgotten passports, or, even forged child birth certificates to allow them entry into the country. Since child trafficking is often linked with lucrative crime activity and corruption, it is hard to estimate how many children suffer, but trafficking and exploitation are an increasing risk as more children around the world live in slavery.
