When a parent is arrested in Kenya, the handcuffs may close around one person, but the consequences can reach an entire family.
Suddenly, a child may be left alone, placed in the care of relatives, or sent to live with a neighbour. Some find loving caregivers. Others face neglect, exploitation, abuse, disrupted schooling, or the frightening uncertainty of not knowing who will care for them tomorrow.
For children whose parents are arrested following domestic violence, the situation can be even more complicated. They may be coping with fear, family separation, trauma, and divided loyalties. They can become what we might call the forgotten orphans of a living parent: children whose parents are alive but who have lost the security, presence, and care they once depended on.
These children did not commit a crime. They should not lose their childhood because of one.
They need safe caregivers, continued education, emotional support, and adults who remind them that their future is still full of possibilities.
At Lespwar Trust, we believe that protecting children must be part of the response whenever a parent is arrested. A child's safety, education, and emotional wellbeing should never be an afterthought.
The question is not only, “What happens to the arrested parent?” It is also, “Who is looking after the child?"