Social factors affecting child protection outcomes of vulnerable teenage girls in Laikipia West sub county, kenya

Abstract

Children, particularly girls, in many parts of the world are vulnerable to abuse in different forms, exploitation, and neglect. Child protection aimed at vulnerable teenage girls has been implemented in many countries. The purpose of the Study was to examine social factors affecting child protection outcomes of vulnerable teenage girls in Laikipia West Sub-County, Kenya. The Study was guided by the following specific objectives: to analyze the effects of teenage drug abuse, to establish the effects of family structure, to examine the effects of literacy levels, and to assess the effects of neighborhood insecurity on child protection outcomes of vulnerable teenage girls. The Study was guided by the child rights-based approach and the ecological systems theory. The Study adopted a mixed-methods research design and was carried out in Laikipia West Sub-County, Laikipia County, Kenya, within its six administrative wards. The Study targeted 10,439 community leaders and teenage girls involved in child protection outcomes. The Study used the stratified and cluster sampling technique to sample community leaders and teenage girls, resulting in a total of 384 participants comprising the entire sample size inclusive of 8, community leaders and 384 teenage girls. The researcher collected responses from the chosen participants through of structured questionnaires and an interview guide. Quantitative data was analyzed through SPSS, with descriptive statistics such as means, frequencies, and percentages used to summarize the data. Inferential statistics-regression was also conducted, and thematic analysis was used for qualitative data. The Study was beneficial to NGOs and other government agencies interested in child protection outcomes not only for vulnerable teenage girls but also for all children. From the findings, The R-squared in this Study was 0.770, which shows that the four independent variables (drug abuse, family structure, literacy level, and neighborhood insecurity) can explain 77.0% ochild protection outcomes of vulnerable teenage girls in Laikipia West sub-county, Kenya. From the findings the researcher concluded that teenage girls drug abuse is a significant issue affecting teenage girls in Laikipia West, with the majority of respondents agreeing that addiction to drugs negatively impacts their wellbeing and protection, as reflected in high mean scores. Also, family structures significantly impact the outcomes of child protection for vulnerable teenage girls, with a majority of respondents agreeing that negative effects are prevalent in various family settings. Additionally, insecurity significantly hinders child protection outcomes for vulnerable teenage girls. A majority of respondents agreed that insecure neighborhoods increase the risk of abuse, neglect, and exploitation, undermining child protection efforts. The study recommends the following: community-based interventions should prioritize increasing awareness and education about the risks associated with drug abuse, targeting both teenagers and their families, interventions should focus on strengthening parenting skills among single mothers, acknowledging the greater challenges they face compared to single fathers, prioritizing initiatives that improve the literacy levels of teenage girls in Laikipia West to enhance their understanding of rights and protections will be advantageous, efforts should focus on increasing accessibility to educational resources and support services, addressing financial constraints, and overcoming cultural barriers that impede girls' education, implement comprehensive and community-based strategies to address neighborhood insecurity and its detrimental effects on child protection for vulnerable teenage girls and further studies should be done on investigate how cultural norms and practices within different communities in Laikipia West Sub County impact the vulnerability of teenage girls to various forms of abuse and exploitation.