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Country

Kenya

Scores
60.1/100
Overall
48.9/100
Governance and accountability
30.0/100
Prevention
70.0/100
Healing
70.6/100
Justice

Eastern & Southern Africa and West & Central Africa

1st

Overall

2nd

Governance and accountability

8th

Prevention

1st

Healing

1st

Justice

Shared rank — one or more countries have the same score.

Pathfinding Global Alliance

8th

Overall

12th

Governance and accountability

21st

Prevention

9th

Healing

7th

Justice

Shared rank — one or more countries have the same score.

Ending Violence Against Children pledging process

11th

Overall

15th

Governance and accountability

30th

Prevention

10th

Healing

9th

Justice

Shared rank — one or more countries have the same score.

Background indicators
GDP per capita
2206.13
Level of poverty
38.6
Gini coefficient
38.7
Rule of Law Index
0.45
Gender Inequality Index (GII)
0.53
Women in parliament
23.4
Gender gap in educational attainment
0.88
LGBTQ Equality Index
19.0
Birth registration
76.0
Internet penetration rate
34.98
Lead child protection ministries or agencies
2.0
Child marriage
13.0
Sexual violence
18.0
Online child sexual abuse
6.5
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Kenya ranks 1st regionally with an overall score of 60 out of 100.

1st
within Eastern & Southern Africa and West & Central Africa
out of 16 countries
4th
out of its income classification
(lower middle income)
24.6
million children in Kenya
represents 5.4% of the region's total population under the age of 18

Kenya has made important progress and is well-placed to continue to strengthen its response. With sustained investment and action, it can continue to be a regional leader in protecting children and adolescents from sexual violence.

Progress through data, policy, and investment

Kenya is a leader in the Eastern & Southern Africa and West & Central Africa region. It is one of only four countries globally to have conducted repeat Violence Against Children and Youth Surveys (VACS) in 2010 and 2019, providing critical data to inform evidence-based policy to end violence against children and adolescents. 

See the groundbreaking data from the Kenyan Violence Against Children and Youth Surveys

Progress has been substantial. In the decade between surveys, prevalence rates of childhood sexual violence among young women fell by 50%. 

This decline has been attributed in part to strong government leadership, including the enactment of a new Constitution in 2010 explicitly guaranteeing children’s rights to live free from violence as well as laws such as the 2022 Children Act, which bans corporal punishment in all settings. The Act also clearly defines and criminalizes online grooming of children for sexual purposes, something few countries have done comprehensively. 

Kenya has also introduced key frameworks, including the 2017 guidelines on child-friendly justice, and 2018 standard procedures for the clinical management of children who experience sexual violence. The government invested in human resource development and systems strengthening, meaningful child participation, and expanded violence against children prevention services through community-level interventions. 

Donor-funded initiatives, such as the DREAMS program, likely contributed as well. Kenya further established a National Action Plan addressing online sexual violence against children, reinforcing its commitment to addressing emerging forms of abuse. Kenya is the only country in the Index in the region that is connected to INTERPOL’s International Child Sexual Exploitation (ICSE). 

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Kenya further established a National Action Plan addressing online sexual violence against children, reinforcing its commitment to tackling emerging forms of abuse.

What remains: Closing the gaps in protection

Despite this progress, gaps persist. The VACS found that two-thirds of survivors did not know where to seek help and only one in ten had received help for an experience of sexual violence.

Leadership brings responsibility. Closing these gaps will require action like: 

  • Ratifying key protective international legal instruments
  • Enacting protective legislation to criminalize intrafamilial sexual abuse and abuse by people in positions of authority in all roles and settings
  • Holding Internet Service Providers accountable for reporting suspected child sexual abuse material
  • Making cross-border law enforcement possible through laws allowing extradition and extraterritoriality 
  • Updating the National Action Plan, which expired in 2023, including both in-person and online sexual violence against children
  • Establishing comprehensive life skills sexuality education covering sexual violence awareness and help-seeking
  • Putting in place parenting support programs
  • Training physicians on sexual violence against children 
  • Increasing overall budget transparency

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Data driving change

Third Richest Nation

www.bravemovement.org/campaigns/third-richest-nation

A world without childhood violence would be $7 trillion richer. This nation isn’t real. Its wealth could be. Brave Movement's survivor-led advocacy campaign at the G20 in 2025 pressured decision makers to invest in prevention, healing and justice to create stronger, happier nations.

#BeBrave G7 Scorecard 2025

www.bravemovement.org/g7

By evaluating each G7 nation’s progress on vital policy measures we're drawing global attention to the global, silent pandemic of sexual violence against children. This is a crisis that undermines the G7's commitment to building secure, prosperous, and equitable societies. Kids need bold leadership and decisive action now to be safe and thrive.

Break the record

www.togetherforgirls.org/en/press/a-record-breaking-event-now-governments-must-deliver

We broke the GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS™ for the most countries represented at a childhood violence summit! With 120 governments attending, this first ever Global Ministerial Conference on Ending Violence Against Children was the largest organized event to address this issue on a global scale. Most importantly, as a result, we also broke the world’s record of inaction against childhood sexual violence.