RECOMMENDATIONS FOR KENYA:
Continue using the Counter-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2010

to investigate and prosecute trafficking offenses, and convict and punish trafficking offenders, including government officials suspected of complicity in human trafficking; continue to use the anti-trafficking law or Section 14 of the Sexual Offenses Act to prosecute and punish child sex tourists; provide additional training to all levels of the government, particularly first-line responders, on identifying and handling trafficking crimes; allocate adequate resources to police, labor, and social services staff to ensure implementation of the prosecution and protection mandates within the Counter- Trafficking in Persons Act of 2010; implement a formal process for law enforcement officials to refer trafficking victims for assistance; continue to increase oversight of and accountability for overseas recruitment agencies; increase protective services available to adult trafficking victims, particularly those identified in and returned from the Middle East; establish the board of trustees to oversee the National Assistance Trust Fund for Victims of Trafficking and allocate money to endow this fund; allocate resources to the victim assistance fund mandated by the Victim Protection Act; and develop a unified system to collect and analyze trafficking case data for use by all stakeholders.

PROSECUTION
The government demonstrated significant progress in anti- trafficking law enforcement efforts. Section 1 of the Counter- Trafficking in Persons Act of 2010, which came into force in September 2012, prohibits all forms of trafficking and Section 3(5) prescribes a sufficiently stringent minimum punishment of 15 years’ imprisonment, which is commensurate with that of other serious crimes, such as rape. Sections 14, 15, and 17 of the Sexual Offenses Act of 2006 prohibit the facilitation of child sex tourism, child prostitution, and forced prostitution, and prescribe penalties of six to 20 years’ imprisonment—penalties that are sufficiently stringent and commensurate with those prescribed for other serious offenses. However, prosecutors rarely pursue cases under these provisions of the act.
The government reported 65 prosecutions of trafficking offenses and 33 convictions during the reporting period. Seventeen cases remained pending at the end of the reporting period, while six cases were withdrawn, one case was pending arrest of the suspect, and one case ended in an acquittal. The government did not track efforts to investigate trafficking crimes during the reporting period, and did not establish a nation-wide data collection system to assist in these efforts.
The government did not report any investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of government employees complicit in human trafficking; however, corruption at all levels of the government remained a concern. During the reporting period, the government cooperated with foreign governments in the investigation of potential sex and labor trafficking crimes. In one case, the government arrested a Kenyan citizen who exploited minors in prostitution on the coast; the case remained pending trial at the end of the reporting period.The Department of Child Services (DCS), in partnership with international organizations and NGOs, provided training on the anti-trafficking act to 30 Kenyan security personnel operating in Mombasa, where the trafficking of children and child sexual exploitation remained an issue. During the reporting period, over 200 officials received anti-trafficking training. A considerable portion of the training received by government officials was initiated and funded by international organizations or foreign donors; training provided by the government during the reporting period remained insufficient in light of Kenya’s

considerable human trafficking problem.

PROTECTION
The government increased efforts to protect child trafficking victims, but efforts to identify and assist adult victims remained weak. It identified at least 12 adult victims of forced labor exploitation overseas, in addition to 658 internal child trafficking victims; 555 had been exploited in forced labor, 39 had been sexually exploited, and the exploitation endured by the remaining 64 was unknown. DCS children’s officers continued to participate in investigations, rescue child trafficking victims, and provide them with counseling and ad hoc referrals to service providers.
DCS and a local NGO continued to jointly operate a national 24-hour toll-free hotline for reporting cases of child trafficking, labor, and abuse. The hotline’s main call center was located in a government-owned building in Nairobi. During the reporting period, the hotline received 46 reports of child trafficking, 26 of which reportedly included labor exploitation, 18 included sexual exploitation, and the remaining two were unknown. DCS continued to operate eight drop-in referral centers in Eldoret, Garissa, Malindi, Siaya, Kakamega, Nairobi, Nakuru, and Mombasa that provided counseling, guidance, and referrals to other centers for an unknown number of victimized children, including trafficking victims, who could not return to their homes. DCS also funded and operated four rescue centers in Garissa, Malindi, Thika, and Machakos where child victims of violence, including trafficking victims, could stay for three months before returning home or being referred to NGO facilities. One additional rescue center remained incomplete and was not operational by the end of the reporting period.The government did not provide data on how many trafficking victims were assisted in these centers during the year.
In September 2014, the government passed the Victim Protection Act, which improves support to trafficking victims including accommodation, food, medical treatment, psycho-social care, police protection, and the establishment of a fund; however, it is unclear what efforts officials made to begin implementation of these measures.While efforts to assist and care for child trafficking victims remained strong, the government provided relatively few services to adult trafficking victims identified within the country or abroad. Kenya’s diplomatic missions made moderate efforts to assist Kenyan national trafficking victims.The government identified and provided repatriation assistance to 11 adult victims of forced labor in Angola; the government collaborated with the Angolan government on the investigation of the alleged trafficking network involved. Additionally, the Kenyan embassy in Muscat assisted with the repatriation of a Kenyan woman from Oman; however, the government failed to provide the victim any assistance upon her return to Kenya. Generally, the government lacked a unified system for providing access to medical aid, shelter, counseling, or financial assistance to adult nationals who were repatriated. Media reported those waiting to be repatriated slept on the floor of the embassy or in a shipping container and were provided inadequate food. The government confirmed the posting of one additional immigration officer to its embassies in the UAE and Saudi Arabia and expansion of consular services to address these concerns.
The government reported formal procedures were in place to encourage victims’ cooperation in the investigation and prosecution of trafficking crimes; however, such procedures were not utilized during the reporting period. There were no