A Guide to the Human Rights Act - A booklet for children rights growing up in pastoralist communities

Exploitation, abuse and discrimination are some of the vices rampant on children growing up in pastoralist communities.

The young ones are denied that special protection that is essential to develop physically, psychologically, spiritually, morally and socially. Some aged as young as five end up suffering from such retrogressive cultural practices as beading, female genital mutilation, early and forced marriages.

Other children are affected by recurring inter-clan conflicts, sexual exploitation that at times result to crude and criminal abortions once the young girls deliver. Babies who survive abortion become outcasts after birth. There have been incidents where the newborns are killed or simply thrown away to die.

Children born with disabilities also fall in the same classification of being discriminated against owing to cultural beliefs. This unique vulnerability facing girls in Samburu community is a major concern to Samburu Women Trust (SWT).

Their work and aspirations is to advance the rights of these young ones with the focus being on special protection measures on those affected by child beading, early and forced marriage among the other harmful practices mentioned. These silent cultural harmful practices, some of which have been thriving as the community watch in silence are gross human right violations and impact negatively on all aspects of a girl’s life.