Kenya

12.5% of Kenyan girls marry or enter a union before age 18 and 2.2% are marry before age 15.

1.8% of boys in Kenya marry before age 18.

Child marriage rates in Kenya vary across regions and among ethnic groups. Child marriage is most common in Northern Kenya (56%), followed by the Coast Province (41%) and Nyanza (32%).

According to a 2017 UNICEF study, 64% of girls of Pokot origin got married before reaching the age of 18, followed by 54% of Rendille girls, 38% Somali girls and 28% of Maasai girls. 38% of Pokot boys and 14% of Somali boys got married before reaching the age of 18.

Child marriage is driven by gender inequality and the belief that girls are somehow inferior to boys.

In Kenya, child marriage is exacerbated by:

● Poverty: Poverty coupled with the low social and economic value placed on girls represent a key driver of child marriage in Kenya. Girls living in poor households are twice as likely to marry under the age of 18 as girls in higher income households. Girls are often seen as assets or as an economic burden, married off in order to free their parents of the economic burden of looking after them. Fathers from the most impoverished communities will arrange the marriage of their daughters in exchange for a bride wealth that is comprised of cattle, camels and donkeys.

● Level of education: Plan reports that Kenyan girls who drop out of school for any reason are more likely to end up married. Some parents reportedly withdraw girls from school and marry them off as soon as they menstruate.

● Harmful practices: Within the Samburu community, beading is a harmful practice whereby a close family relative will approach a girl's parents with red Samburu beads and place the necklace around the girl's neck. This signifies a temporary engagement of the relative and the girl, and the relative can then have sex with her. Some girls are “beaded” as young as 6 years old and it is estimated that three in four girls in the 8-12 age group are beaded. Beading is recognised as form of child rape under CEDAW.

● Female Genital Mutilation and Cutting (FGM/C): While the national prevalence of FGM/C is 15%, in some communities it is near universal. For the Kuria, Maasai, Rendille and Turkana people FGM/C is seen as a sign of readiness for marriage, and generally occurs between the ages of 9 and 17. Girls who have undergone FGM/C attract a higher bride price compared to those who don’t. During the August and December school holidays girls in the Pokot region flee from their homes as many mutilations take place during that period.

● Adolescent pregnancy: Child marriage is seen as a safeguard against immoral behaviour and the ultimate protection from male sexual attention. A 2012 Plan study shows that parents in Kilifi and Kwale married off pregnant daughters to protect their family status and name, and to receive both dowry and a “penalty” payment from the man responsible for the pregnancy. Children are respected more when their mother is married, and become ng’ide awi (children of the home) rather than ng’ide akeor (children of the field). Among Kuria communities, young pregnant girls are sometimes married off to older women who cannot bear sons, in a tradition known as Nyumba boke.

● Poor law enforcement: While the Children’s Act prohibits child marriage, authorities do not see it as their job to prevent it. Birth and marriage registration are rarely produced or verified at the point of marriage. Cases of child marriage taken to court for prosecution are delayed or not completed because of corruption. Community and religious leaders also resist the enforcement of the law.

● Escape: Some girls enter marriages to escape strict and controlling parents, orphanhood and negligence from carers. Girls also view marriage as a way to escape poverty and inequality. Often families believe that the dowry they receive for their daughter’s marriage will relieve their financial problems.

● Cultural norms: In Kenyan society, marriage is socially accepted and respected. In a 2022 study conducted in North Eastern Kenya, it was found that within pastoral communities, child marriage was desired as a way to prevent pre-marital sex and for girls to bear many children. In these communities, women’s roles were limited to child bearing and rearing.

Humanitarian settings can encompass a wide range of situations before, during, and after natural disasters, conflicts, and epidemics. They exacerbate poverty, insecurity, and lack of access to services such as education, factors which all drive child marriage. While gender inequality is a root cause of child marriage in both stable and crisis contexts, often in times of crisis, families see child marriage as a way to cope with greater economic hardship and to protect girls from increased violence.[RH1]

Kenya suffers erratic weather conditions, including droughts and floods, which causes loss of lives, cropland, livestock and property, and hampers access to food. Between December 2019 and March 2020, Kenya experienced one of the worst locust infestations. Continuous climate hazards has exacerbated food insecurity, severe malnutrition and disease outbreak.

In addition to climate hazards, Kenya is home to one of the largest refugee populations in Africa, hosting people from Somalia, South Sudan, Ethiopia and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The majority of refugees are housed across the Dadaab and Kakuma camps that are located in regions of Kenya that are affected by severe drought.

● Natural disasters and climate change: Drought and famine conditions deteriorated in Kenya in 2017. Consequently, as of February 2023, there are over 4.4 million people food insecure requiring humanitarian assistance, of which 970,214 children are considered malnourished. Children are at an increased risk of being separated from families, dropping out of school and being married off for dowry as a survival tactic. Dowry practices are exacerbated in times of crisis, such as drought and contribute to increased rates of child marriage. In March 2023, seasonal rains affected 52,000 people and displaced 25,190 people. According to Maasai girls’ rights activists prolonged droughts prompt many families to give away young girls as brides in exchange for cattle. The long walk in search of water also exposes young girls to sexual abuse and unwanted pregnancies, which may in turn initiate an early marriage.

● Displacement: As of January 2023, Kenya hosted nearly 577, 492 refugees and asylum seekers, mainly from Somalia (50%), South Sudan (27%), and the Democratic Republic of Congo (9%), Ethiopia (6%) and Burundi (4%) – countries with high prevalence of child marriage. While we lack concrete evidence of child marriage taking place in Kenyan refugee camps, available literature indicates that displacement increases girls’ vulnerability to child marriage due to the breakdown of social networks, the lack of protection systems and the increased risk of sexual violence.

Kenya has committed to eliminate child, early and forced marriage by 2030 in line with target 5.3 of the Sustainable Development Goals. The government did not provide an update on progress towards this target during its Voluntary National Review at the 2017 High Level Political Forum. The government submitted a Voluntary National Review at the 2020 High Level Political Forum. In this review, the government acknowledged that harmful practices, child marriage, adolescent pregnancy and poor menstrual hygiene management affects girls’ school attendance and completion. Between 2016 and 2019, there were 1,996 recorded cases of child marriage, 2,105 cases of adolescent pregnancy, 5,877 cases of physical abuse/violence and 6,472 cases of defilement in Kenya. A majority of child marriage cases reported during that time period were of children between the ages of 10 – 14 years (54% girls and 3% boys) and between the ages of 16 – 18 years (41% girls and 2% boys). The government has not submitted a Voluntary National Review in any High Level Political Forum since 2020 . The government is due to submit a Voluntary National Review in 2024.

Kenya co-sponsored the 2013, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2020 and 2022 UN General Assembly resolutions on child, early and forced marriage, and the 2013 Human Rights Council resolution on child, early and forced marriage. In 2014, Kenya signed a joint statement at the Human Rights Council calling for a resolution on child marriage.

Kenya ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1990, which [KS1] the Committee on the Rights of the Child has interpreted to recommend the establishment of a minimum age of marriage of 18, and acceded to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in 1984, which obligates states to ensure free and full consent to marriage.

In 2017 the CEDAW Committee raised concerns about the practice of bride price and child marriage in Kenya.

During its 2015[KC2] Universal Periodic Review, Kenya supported four recommendations to strengthen efforts to eliminate child marriage.

In 2000 Kenya ratified the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, including Article 21 regarding the prohibition of child marriage.

In 2010 Kenya ratified the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa, including Article 6 which sets the minimum age for marriage as 18.

In 2017 Kenya became the 19th country to launch the African Union Campaign to End Child Marriage in Africa.

Kenya is one of 20 countries which committed to ending child marriage by the end of 2020 under the Ministerial Commitment on comprehensive sexuality education and sexual and reproductive health services for adolescents and young people in Eastern and Southern Africa.

At the London Girl Summit in July 2014, the government signed a charter committing to end child marriage by 2020.

Kenya is one of the countries where the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR)/DREAMS Initiative is working to reduce rates of HIV among adolescent girls and young women.

Kenya is a partner country of the Global Partnership for Education (GPE).

The National Plan of Action to Tackle Online Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (2022-2026), is the first of its kind in Kenya. This National Plan of Action aims to eliminate online child sexual exploitation and abuse in Kenya; within the plan, child, early and forced marriage is considered a form of exploitation.

The National Plan of Action for Children in Kenya (2015-2022)[KC1] [RH2] acknowledges that child marriage leads to physical, sexual and emotional abuse of children and that public awareness targeting barazas (community meetings), families and children is important.

The National Plan against Sexual Exploitation of Children in Kenya (2018-2022) recognises child marriage as a harmful practice that contributes to child sexual abuse and exploitation, and it envisions activities to engage men as community champions in reducing child marriage.

In October 2016, the Gender Department and Anti-FGM Board within the Ministry of Public Service, Youth and Gender led the development of a draft National Plan of Action on Child Marriage. This process involved Girls Not Brides members, and consultations led by UNICEF Kenya are continuing. However, as of 2024 this National Plan is not finalised.

UNICEF Kenya and the Australian High Commission organised a Stakeholders Meeting on Child Marriage in November 2017, where the #ENDChildMarriageKE campaign was launched.

Kenya was one of the Phase II focus countries of the UNFPA-UNICEF Joint Programme on FGM/C (2018–2021).

District Probation Offices are active within several areas of Kenya and are responsible for rehabilitating child marriage survivors, investigating cases of child marriage, making recommendations to relevant authorities and sensitising communities on the consequences of child marriage.

Under the Marriage Act 2014 the minimum legal age of marriage is 18 years with no exceptions.

In addition, the Counter Trafficking in Persons Act, 2010 classifies child labour, child marriage and sexual exploitation as forms of exploitation.