By R, KNA
The Samburu County Gender Sector Working Group (CGSWG) has identified the need to strengthen sexual reproductive health education among teenagers to curb the rising cases of abortions in the county.
During Tuesday’s Gender Based Violence (GBV) thematic group meeting, it emerged that there are new trends of GBV in Samburu county such as femicide, Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) and abortions.
Frank Leseketeti from Ngopiro foundation noted that abortion has been on the rise among teenagers in Samburu county since abortion pills are easily accessible in remote areas from mobile clinics during market days.
“In the past, traditional abortion methods were crude and involved women with a particular set of skills and this deterred promiscuous behavior. But today, morans just buy drugs over the counter and give them to their girlfriends, “he said.
Miriam Chege, a certified nurse noted that girls attending day schools far from home are at high risk of getting pregnant and having an abortion due to their lifestyle when schools are in session.
“Most girls rent single rooms close to day schools which are far from their homes. Most of them end up cohabiting with boys leading to irresponsible sexual behavior,” Chege said.
She noted that illegal abortions are leaving students dead or hospitalized with long-term reproductive complications and called for a targeted and strengthened sexual health reproductive education among morans and students to encourage them to abstain or embrace contraception.
At the same time, the CGSWG called on law enforcement agencies to crack down on chemists and mobile clinics selling abortion pills.
According to the 2022 Kenya Demographic and Health Survey (KDHS), teenage pregnancy stood at 50 percent in Samburu county.
The County Gender Sector Working Group is a collaborative body supported by the State Department for Gender and Affirmative Action and coordinates efforts to achieve gender equality and women empowerment at the county level. It brings together representatives from national and county governments, development partners, civil society organizations and other stakeholders.