The rich are employing minors, child protection stakeholders who had met in Meru town deliberated on the matter and disclosed that parents are being lured into giving their class eight children to the rich in towns who promise to educate them while working for them.
They had met to deliberate on effective means towards sensitizing parents and guardians against giving out their children for employment in big towns.
According to Paul Ndung’u a children's officer in the county, the whole society has to undertake on the responsibility of upholding children rights and not leave it to the government.
He said it’s unfortunate since most of the minors who are employed to carry out domestic chores suffer from severe psychological problems due to having to watch their age mates in the house go to school while they remain at home.
Ndung’u also cautioned parents and guardians against compromising the development of their children by subjecting them to immature employment where many of them were subjected to duties beyond their physical and mental age.
“This translates into low self esteem as a result of being reprimanded by their employers when they fail to perform their duties as expected. Some of them are even sexually molested and fear to disclose it”, said Ndun’gu.
He added that children officers in the county have drawn a program to ensure that chiefs and their assistant are directly involved in arresting anyone responsible for any form of child abuse in their areas of administration.
“Most of the child abuse and neglect cases are reported from the rural areas far from the district headquarters and most of the children’s officers fail to know what goes on at the village level and take appropriate action before its late”, he said.
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