Essay by Kate Monicah

There are numerous challenges facing women and girls in Kenya and talking about them can take eons but one of the major challenges facing women and girls is teen pregnancy and throughout my essay I will address the causes effects and measures taken to control teen pregnancy.

Like every other problem that rises since the beginning of time it must have causative factors, questions have been asked as to why there is an increase in the level of teen pregnancy now than in the past and the expected results of the future regarding teen pregnancy, what are we doing wrong that our elders didn’t do ,what has changed in our upbringing, this as some of the questions asked by countless of people across the country. one of the causes is high cost of living and it goes hand in hand with black tax. Many women and girls are relied on by the families to help provide there daily needs cupping with the high Kenyan economy this drives them to make desperate choices and decisions to help there families some of these choices are diminishing like selling themselves to make extra money or looking for wealthy older men to cater for there needs this is the most common way that most young eligible Kenyan women and girls choose to make easy money and this men some married others are single while the rest are divorced choose to take advantage of their situation and ask in return for the materials given some sexual favors making it a play of tit for tat, this may result to teen pregnancy and contraction of STDs. Another cause of teen pregnancy is drug abuse and works hand in hand with peer pressure. Research from NACADA shows that there is a high drug abuse rate in Kenya and that in 2009 drug abuse started at around ten year old’s and they were introduced into this by family members and with friends at school where they give into peer pressure to please their friends and maintain their social groups when they have consumed this drugs which majorly consist of marijuana, bhang, miraa, tobacco and are intoxicated they may end up getting involved in unprotected sexual intercourse and may result to pregnancy and contraction of STDs. One other cause of teen pregnancy is rape and pedophilia, this may also lead to teen pregnancy, thus the government under the leadership of kewopa in July 2020 met to help put a stop to this menace and also provide rescue centers for the victims. Another major cause of teen pregnancy is illiteracy in sex education where in the olden times parents and the community at large took their time to teach the young one’s sex education compared to the modern times where the young are left to their own devices where they can indulge themselves and watch pornographic materials and go experimenting leading to teen pregnancy Although there is a rise in the level of teen pregnancy various organizations and people have been fighting to control it organizations like FIDA stand up to speak and help curb teen pregnancy along with activists like Caroline Mutoko and local the women representative of Kiambu county Peninnah Guthoni Muchomba to build rescue homes for rape victims. statistics also shows a rise in teen pregnancy in Nairobi in the period of January-April 2020 there were 11,795 cases compared to the previous year 2019 in the same period that had 11,410 cases of teen pregnancy and this trend was seen across different counties in Kenya like Kakamega and Machakos showing a rise in the rate of teen pregnancy especially during this covid-19 pandemic which has made people stay at home leading to an increase in teen pregnancy.

The rate of teen pregnancy is high it also gravely affects the country at large and also the family. When teenagers get pregnant the burden does not lie on their shoulders, they may carry the pregnancy to full term but it is the family that has to under go the cost of having an addition to the family and bear the humilliation of their daughter having a baby at such a young age their parenting will be questioned and most teenagers who fall pregnant and have kids most decide to drop out of school this prevents them from being able to achieve their dreams and it will make them more dependent on the government for survival thus slowing development in the country.