A Holistic Approach to Understanding the Sexual Exploitation and Abuse of Girls

Abstract

Abstract A significant challenge to building a culture of peace is globally pervasive violence against children, including the sexual exploitation and abuse of girls. Using a social-ecological lens, this chapter examines the multiple, interacting causes and impacts of sexual exploitation and abuse of girls at different levels such as family, peer, community, and societal levels. As an illustrative case study, it examines the sexual exploitation and abuse of teenage girls (13 to 17 years) in two urban slums of Mombasa, Kenya. A mix of focus group discussions and in-depth interviews identified recurrent themes: unequal power relations and men in authority positions abusing girls, rape, family members as perpetrators, transactional sex, prostitution, the sale of alcohol as a contributing factor, and hotspots for sexual violence. Prevention efforts must feature the interplay between structural violence, especially patriarchy, and direct violence and take a holistic, systemic approach that goes beyond a focus primarily on direct violence.