Promoting child rights in Kenya - Pelastakaa Lapset ry

The Act has been referred to as an innovative piece of legislation. The Act has expanded thedefinition of rape and widened the scope and nature of recognised sexual offences to include childpornography, child trafficking, child sex tourism, gang rape, deliberate transmission of HIV/AIDSand sexual harassment. The Act also recognizes children as vulnerable witnesses and makesprovision for an intermediary to testify on their behalf. DNA profiling can now be used to detect andprove commission of a sexual offence. Another important aspect of the Act is that it introduces theconcept of minimum penalties. The penalties are stiffer than those contained in the Penal Codewith those found guilty of defiling minors being liable to life imprisonment, a sentence that has beenmeted by courts on several occasions.Some of the measures undertaken by government to implement the Act include the following:Data base on sexual offendersThe Act provides for a register of convicted sex offenders to be maintained by the Registrar of theHigh Court who will have the administrative rights to access the system. The data base wasofficially set up in 2012. The register is a national database of past sexual offenders convicted ofoffences under the Act and will include particulars of the offender such as name, identity cardnumber, date of conviction, crime committed, age of the victim and rehabilitation, if any, of theconvict. Access to the data base is restricted and subject to approval after application. However,the police, judiciary, and the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) will have access to the database after following the laid down process. The inclusion of the TSC is important due to the factthat it employs a large adult population which is in constant contact with children. While manyteachers have done the noble duty of notifying relevant authorities about suspected sexual abusefacing students, many others have been charged with sexual abuse of students. It is thereforeimportant for institutions of learning to liaise with TSC to vet teachers prior to employing them. 44Reference Manual on Sexual Offences ActThe Office of the Attorney General has formulated a Reference Manual that sets standards andrecommendations on best practices as part of implementation targeting various key serviceproviders and stakeholders including police investigators and prosecutors, medical practitioners,members of civil society, and those seeking services in the legal system. The Manual wasproduced jointly by the Department of Public Prosecutions in the Office of the Attorney General andWomen in Law and Development in Africa (WILDAF). The manual is a useful tool to carry outsensitisation training on sexual abuse and related matters.Task Force on the Implementation of the Sexual Offences ActA Task Force to guide implementation of the Act was set up in March 2007, vide gazette notice2115. Its mandate is to prepare and recommend a National Policy Framework and guidelines forthe Act, to review all existing policies, laws and regulations, practices and customs relating tosexual offences and to make amendments, carry out public education, awareness and sensitization44The CRADLE is part of a group of petitioners in a case where two girls are suing over alleged sexual abuse by a teacher. Therespondents in this case are the Attorney General, the Teacher Service Commission and the school concerned. The petitioners areseeking for a declaration that all acts of sexual and gender-based violence against children amount to a violation of their right toeducation and also that teachers, in their legal capacity as guardians, have a duty to protect all children from sexual and genderbasedviolence by errant teachers. (2011).36