Prosecution
The government failed to punish acts of trafficking during the reporting period, but demonstrated significantly increased law enforcement activity throughout the reporting period. Kenya does not prohibit all forms of trafficking, though it criminalises the trafficking of children and adults for sexual exploitation through its Sexual Offenses Act, enacted in July 2006, which prescribes penalties that are sufficiently stringent and commensurate with those for rape; however, the law is not yet widely used by prosecutors. The Employment Act of 2007 outlaws forced labour and contains additional statutes relevant to labour trafficking. In September 2007, relevant government agencies provided comments on a draft comprehensive human trafficking bill to the Attorney General’s office, which continues to work with NGOs to further refine the bill. Police opened investigations into a number of significant cases during the reporting period, including the suspected trafficking of children by two school teachers in Kirinyaga District. In October 2007, police in Malindi arrested an Italian national on suspicion of human trafficking, facilitating child prostitution, and drug trafficking. Upon the conclusion of a separate police investigation, two women were charged with child defilement and child prostitution after luring a 14-year old girl to their home and forcing her into prostitution. Two children trafficked to Tanzania for forced labour were rescued by Kenyan officials and placed in a children's home; the investigation is ongoing as police believe the perpetrators are harbouring an additional 40 children and six adults in forced labour. Six people in Bomet District and Nandi District of Rift Valley Province were charged with the sale and trafficking of children. The Police Commissioner worked with Interpol to investigate the suspected trafficking of a Kenyan girl to the Netherlands and four children to Ireland. The Ministry of Home Affairs began, for the first time, collecting information on trafficking cases from the police, media, foreign governments, and UNODC. Corruption among law enforcement authorities and other public officials hampered efforts to bring traffickers to justice. Some anti-trafficking activists made credible claims that, in certain areas, police officials were complicit in trafficking activities.
Read more about this topic: Human Trafficking In Kenya
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