The Judiciary has scaled up efforts to end sexual trafficking which is the leading cause of human smuggling in the country.
According to the justice system, the majority of human trafficking cases are sexual exploitation, representing about 30 per cent of the cases reported, affecting largely women and girls.
The latest statistics from the bar show that out of 201 reported cases, 55 would be on sex exploitation, 17 on labour trafficking while 129 others involve other forms.
Chief Justice Martha Koome, however, observed that many of these cases remain unreported, affecting efforts to end the menace.
"Most of these cases have not been unpacked within the Justice you can find that only a few have been resolved to a very large extent the cases are left unresolved," she said, terming the menace a pandemic.
"It predominantly affects women and girls who are ruined, harassed, and forced into situations of exploitation that strip them of their dignity and freedom," she added.
Justice Koome spoke in Nairobi on Tuesday during the launch of the Kenya Judicial Bench Book on Trafficking in Persons for Sexual Exploitation.
The urgency to end the heinous act, she said, informed by the launch of the bench book by the International Association of Women Judges in partnership with Equality Now.
"It is designed to enhance the understanding of this complex and pervasive crime among our judicial officers and justice providers. The bench will express the elements of trafficking for sexual exploitation and shed light on the legal and evisceration practices that often arise in such cases," she said.
At the same time, the CJ noted that the book complements the existing legal frameworks that have been designed to prevent crime and provide protection and justice to the victims.
"It complements the Counter-Trafficking in Persons Act 2010 to ensure a comprehensive national framework that effectively prevents and eliminates trafficking in this ecosystem of norms that the treaty has highlighted," she stated.
This becomes the second publication from the bench seeking to end human trafficking after the judiciary launched another judicial bench book on Labour Trafficking in Persons in July 2022.
"It will equip them with the knowledge and skills needed to identify potential victims, respond to their needs for support and protection, and adopt a human rights-based approach, a victim-centred approach, a gender- and child-sensitive approach, and a trauma-informed approach in handling these issues," said the CJ.
To boost these efforts, the Judiciary gazetted 12 gender justice courts in hotspot areas around the country tailored to address the concerns arising from sexual offences.
Justice Agnes Murgor said the book launch was a milestone that will provide the "means and purpose to address misconceptions surrounding the problem and protecting rights of victims while looking at it from a trauma perspective."
Tsitsi Matekarie of Equality Now said that they are looking forward to ensuring that the rights of victims are upheld and that the magistrates understand the nature of victims who are at times nervous and fearful when giving accounts of the sexual assault in court.
"With these sensitisation initiatives, we are hopeful the number of prosecution will go up once we have an accommodative Judiciary that will give confidence to the victims to report cases," she said.
