Assessing Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices Regarding Child Sex Trafficking in Coastal Kenya

Victim-blaming is commonplace in Kenya’s coastal counties.

This briefing note presents a summary of methods, findings, and recommendations from a baseline knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) study conducted in coastal Kenya by NORC at the University of Chicago in collaboration with Kantar Public. 

As a part of its partnership with the U.S. Department of State’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, the Global Fund to End Modern Slavery (GFEMS) has launched a series of projects to combat CSEC in Kwale and Kilifi counties. Implemented by Terre des Hommes Netherlands in partnership with Kesho Kenya, the “Building A Future” (BAF) project focuses on implementing community-based prevention methods, formal education for young survivors, skills training and apprenticeships for older survivors, and improving livelihoods for the most vulnerable families. Targeting known sex trafficking hotspots in coastal Kenya, the project works to address both the supply of vulnerable individuals and the enabling environments that allow CSEC to persist. 

NORC was contracted by GFEMS to lead an independent impact evaluation to assess whether BAF’s package of community interventions is leading to measurable change in community knowledge, attitudes, and practices vis-à-vis CSEC in coastal Kenya.

The study showed that although generally communities oppose CSEC, There is little sensitivity to or awareness of the negative psychosocial effects CSEC has on victims. 

To learn more about the studies’ findings and to see our recommendations, download the briefing: