Stakeholders in the fight against female genital mutilation (FGM) and early marriages have raised concern over increased cases in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
Parents attending a sensitization forum on teenage sex, drug abuse and FGM held in Loitoktok, Kajiado County, said more girls in the area may not report to schools in January as they are heavily pregnant.
The dejected parents said since the School calendar was interrupted by Covid-19 pandemic early in the year, more school going girls have found themselves in the dragnet of pedophiles, incest, FGM with gender-based violence cases on the rise.
During the session, girls who were attending the training were issued sanitary towels and other personal effects from well-wishers. With the school closures, many girls have become desperate for ways to get access to essential items.
The participants urged both the national and county government to come up with youth sensitization programs against FGM, early marriage and drugs abuse to save a generation that is threatened by societal vices.
The call coming amid worrying statistics of young people engaging in vices that could prove counterproductive as the current coronavirus pandemic stretches its arms across the globe