Kwale County cannot address teenage pregnancy, HIV and sexual and gender-based violence as separate challenges. The issues are interconnected and require coordinated action from communities, families, schools, health providers and leaders.<\/p>\n
The Kenya Women Parliamentary Association (KEWOPA) convened a community dialogue on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) in Kwale County, bringing together community members and stakeholders to examine the factors driving teenage pregnancy, sexual and gender-based violence, HIV and limited access to SRHR services.<\/p>\n
According to data from the National Syndemic Diseases Control Council (NSDCC), Kwale recorded 7,582 adolescent pregnancies in 2025. Of these, 366 involved girls aged 10 to 14, while 7,216 involved girls aged 15 to 19. The county also recorded 379 cases of sexual and gender-based violence among adolescents aged 10 to 17.<\/p>\n
The dialogue examined the links between child marriage, sexual violence, HIV, teenage pregnancy, limited access to contraception and menstrual health challenges, and how these issues affect girls\u2019 health, safety, education and future opportunities.<\/p>\n
Participants emphasised the need to move beyond awareness creation towards practical community action, particularly in preventing violence, protecting girls and ensuring survivors and those at risk can access appropriate services.<\/p>\n
Abu, a community member, stressed the importance of turning knowledge of rights into action.<\/p>\n
\u201cKujua haki zetu haitoshi. Lazima tujue kuona ukatili, kusema bila kuogopa, kuwalinda wasichana na kusaidia wale wameathirika wapate msaada wanaohitaji.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The message highlighted the responsibility of communities to recognise and respond to violence, speak out against harmful practices and connect survivors to the support and services they need.<\/p>\n
The dialogue further underscored the importance of strengthening linkages between communities, schools, health facilities and other service providers so that girls and survivors can access timely information, prevention services, treatment, psychosocial support and justice.<\/p>\n
Addressing the interconnected challenges of teenage pregnancy, HIV and sexual and gender-based violence requires sustained collaboration at community and institutional levels. Families and communities have a critical role in prevention and protection, while schools and health providers must strengthen access to information and essential SRHR services.<\/p>\n
Leaders and duty bearers must also ensure that policies and programmes respond to the realities facing girls and young people, particularly those at heightened risk of violence, early pregnancy and HIV.<\/p>\n
KEWOPA will continue to support dialogue and advocacy that places the rights, health, safety and wellbeing of women and girls at the centre of policy and community action.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Kwale County cannot address teenage pregnancy, HIV and sexual and gender-based violence as separate challenges. The issues are interconnected and require coordinated action from communities, families, schools, health providers and leaders. The Kenya Women Parliamentary Association (KEWOPA) convened a community dialogue on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) in Kwale County, bringing together community<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7820,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7819","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kewopa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7819","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kewopa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kewopa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kewopa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kewopa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7819"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.kewopa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7819\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7821,"href":"https:\/\/www.kewopa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7819\/revisions\/7821"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kewopa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7820"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kewopa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7819"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kewopa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7819"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kewopa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7819"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}