The community dialogues on the “Orange Wednesdays” started by Kenya Female Advisory Organization (KEFEADO) in during the2015 has been a journey to end sexual violence and exploitation of children in the Western Kenya Region. The community dialogues has created space that has opened up persons in and out of schools at the village unit to reflect in utilizing community spaces engage duty-bearers, community members, parent/guardians and school communities to have candid conversations on a menace that is devastating our children daily – the rising cases of sexual violence. The Orange Wednesdays are a space to ensure that communities are holistically engaged to make the lives of our children brighter by ensuring a life free of sexual violence.
It is well documented that children who are abused are likely to become abusers and this goes to question that when the judiciary recognizes this anomaly why are we not speaking about the root cause of the problem? The fact is that we have buried our heads in the sand and this ticking time bomb has exploded in many communities in the Western Kenya Region.We must speak of how to create safe spaces to ensure that our communities do not become this torrid space where teenagers and youth who are meant to be role models are the perpetrators of sexual violence as was alluded to recently by Chief Justice Maraga in Kakamega County.
Orange Wednesdays shall continue to engage children to get their voice to bring to the fore ways to prevent and end this atrocity slowly destroying our society. The impact of this violence on the mental health of our children is unfathomable. We must “Orange the World of our Children” as a nation and stop this fast decline into a dark abyss of sexual exploitation and abuse. Stand up and ensure that our voices are loud and consistent every “OrangeWednesday”
#OrangeWednesdays #OkWaBiLing #WeShallNotBeSilent #EndSexualViolenceAgainstChildren