Protecting children from abuse: Challenges associated with the implementation of The children act cap 586 of the laws of Kenya

Abstract

This study examined the Children Act, which is a law, passed by parliament to be used in the protection of children from abuse. Specifically, the study looked into the challenges and successes made in child protection since the law came into force in the year 2001.Despite the existence of the law, reports about child protection continues in the media. The study was therefore an attempt to find out if the Children Act has managed to protect children from abuse, and if there are any challenges that the implementers of the Act faced that would hinder the effective protection of children. The study had the objective of identifying the progress made so far in child protection. And the difficulties they implementers experienced so that they could be addressed to ensure full protection of children from abuse. Although there are may actors in child protection, the study only focused on officers from the police, judiciary, probation, children department and local government due to their important role in child protection. The police officers provided quantitative data, since they have a central function of implementing all laws and regulation. The rest of the implementers provided qualitative data. Most of the report is presented in a narrative form with a few diagrammatic presentations where appropriate. The information was generated from discussions held with the respondents, observations by the researcher and past experience of the researcher as a magistrate presiding over the Nairobi Children court from 1998-2003.