Online child sexual exploitation and abuse (OCSEA) is one of the most urgent and complex challenges in protecting children today, requiring coordinated action across borders and sectors. The scale of child sexual abuse material (CSAM), including AI-generated content, is growing at alarming rates, with ChildLight reporting a 1,325% year-over-year increase in AI-generated CSAM. In response, Kenya is taking decisive steps to fight back.
Maestral supported the development of the National Plan of Action to Tackle Online Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse in Kenya (2022–2026) and in 2021/22 to provide technical assistance to the National Council on the Administration of Justice (NCAJ) to strengthen the capacity of Kenya’s justice sector to respond to OCSEA. Maestral first assessed the sector’s capacity to handle OCSEA cases, and identified opportunities to strengthen judges’, magistrates’, prosecutors’, lawyers’ and police’s capacity to investigate and prosecute OCSEA and to make decisions that prioritize the safety and well-being of children who experience OCSEA. Building on these key identified areas, Maestral then led the development of the national standardized training handbook on investigation and prosecution of OCSEA. The package aimed to build the knowledge and skills of key justice sector actors to use child-centered trauma-informed approaches, to better understand perpetrators of OCSEA, to conduct effective evidence gathering and management in OCSEA cases, and to represent, prosecute, and adjudicate OCSEA cases. Finally, the Maestral team conducted two cohorts of training-of-trainers which strengthened the necessary coordinated, multi-agency approach to OCSEA response.
Since the launch of the training in 2022, the Government of Kenya have scaled up implementation across the justice sector. As of early 2026:
- 96 police officers have been trained in collaboration with the Anti-Human Trafficking and Child Protection Unit and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations Training Academy.
- 17 magistrates, 60 lawyers, and 60 prosecutors have been trained through partnerships with the Judiciary Academy, the Law Society of Kenya, and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.
- An additional 85 Court User Committee members have been trained.
The standardized training package has now been rolled out by multiple partners, including ChildFund, International Development Law Organization, UN Office on Drugs and Crime, Terre des Hommes, and Kenya Alliance for Advancement of Children, promoting a sustained, multi-sectoral approach that recognizes no single partner can tackle this complex problem alone. All trainers are certified and registered to ensure consistency and quality. Encouragingly, the number of OCSEA cases concluded in court and resulting in convictions has grown, from only three cases between 2016 and 2022 to eight cases by March 2024. Whilst this is still relatively low, it is a promising indicator of strengthened justice responses.
In addition to the National Plan of Action to Tackle Online Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse in Kenya (2022–2026) and standardized training on investigation and prosecution of OCSEA, Kenya’s Digital Master Plan 2022–2032, its specialist cyber police unit, and the reporting hotline established in partnership with the Internet Watch Foundation are additional examples of the country’s commitment to preventing and responding to OCSEA. As Kenya continues to lead by example, further progress will depend on strengthening and implementing legislation, expanding police training beyond major cities, and ensuring the justice sector has the technology needed to respond to OCSEA in ways that prioritize the best interests of the child, preserve evidence, and enable prosecution in line with national law.
Kenya’s dedication to addressing OCSEA offers valuable lessons for other countries: coordinated, multi-sectoral capacity strengthening works, and sustained investment can transform legislation into impactful, child-centered solutions that strengthen the entire protection system.