Kenya moves to strengthen protection against tech-facilitated sexual violence

This story has significance for readers across Kenya and beyond.

What you need to know:

- Proposed law targets emerging digital sexual crimes while strengthening protection and justice for survivors.

- Sexual Offences Amendment Bill seeks tougher action against deepfakes, sextortion and non-consensual image sharing.

While in her second year at the Technical University of Mombasa, Queentah Wambulwa recalls an incident that occurred that would drastically change the course of her life. She says that morning in 2018, she woke up to thousands of Facebook notifications.

Initially, she could not grasp what was wrong. However, it soon became clear to her that someone had shared explicit photos and videos of her in village Facebook and WhatsApp groups. These were images she had privately sent to her ex-boyfriend during their long-distance relationship, which had started in 2016.

“This realisation was completely crushing. I was filled with immense shame and sorrow for disappointing both myself and those around me. The intense feelings of guilt, anxiety, and concern consumed me as the pictures circulated on Facebook, WhatsApp, Telegram, and local blogs. I felt lost and unsure of where to seek help and even considered ending my life to escape the suffering,” Queentah tells the Nation.

Members of the Facebook and WhatsApp groups were friends, family, and neighbours from her hometown, hence it did not take much time for her parents to receive the photos and videos, she recalls. This experience pushed her into deep depression. To cope, she resorted to alcohol and drugs. And the situation deteriorated further, eventually resulting in her admission to Kenyatta National Hospital for psychiatric care.

“To be honest, I need to attribute my recovery to divine intervention. With the assistance of counsellors, I was able to heal and recover from the traumatic experience. With the support of counsellors, I was able to navigate the traumatic experience,” she adds.

Today, Quinter is one of the leading Kenyan psychologists, author, and mental health advocate. She is the founder and CEO of the Girls for Girls Mental Health Foundation. However, despite the atrocities that were committed against her, she did not get justice, and the perpetrator continues to walk free, despite his crime.

But now Quinter, a survivor of technology-facilitated sexual violence, could benefit from the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Bill, 2026, if it becomes law. The National Council on the Administration of Justice (NCAJ) has adopted the Bill, which seeks to criminalise digital and emerging forms of sexual exploitation, prohibit informal out-of-court settlements, and strengthen survivor-centred protections.

The proposed law, currently before the Justice and Legal Affairs Committee in Parliament, criminalises emerging technology-driven offences, including artificial intelligence (AI)-generated deepfake abuse, non-consensual sharing of intimate images, sextortion, stalking, and online grooming. AI-generated images and videos are becoming an emerging global challenge, enabling perpetrators to fabricate realistic intimate content for use to humiliate, harass, blackmail, or extort money from victims.

It also bans out-of-court deals and declares any traditional dispute resolution mechanism, informal agreement, or private settlement for sexual offences completely void and illegal, forcing mandatory prosecution through formal courts. Informal community mechanisms like kangaroo courts and the traditional maslaha system have been obstructing justice for survivors by replacing formal legal accountability with negotiated, patriarchal settlements.

These parallel systems silence victims, shield perpetrators, and deny survivors proper medical, psychological, and legal redress. The Bill is pushing for impose clearer legal obligations on telecommunication and digital platforms for swift removal of non-consensual intimate content media.

On institutional support, the Bill seeks to strengthen infrastructure to prevent secondary victimisation by promoting dedicated gender desks at police stations and bolstering evidence-collection frameworks.

Chief Justice Martha Koome states that by addressing new crimes and enhancing assistance for survivors, the proposed legislation will update the nation's response to sexual offences.

“Among the most significant outcomes of our deliberations was the formal approval of the draft Sexual Offences Bill, 2026, which will, upon final updates, be submitted to the National Assembly,” she says.

“The proposed legislation seeks to strengthen Kenya's response to sexual and gender-based violence, including emerging technology-facilitated offences, femicide and other evolving forms of harm, while improving the protection, care and support available to survivors.”

Kenya has taken a significant step towards modernising its response to sexual offences following the validation of the Bill. Mr Desire Njamwea, assistant director at the National Gender and Equality Commission and vice chairperson of a NCAJ committee, notes that beyond introducing new criminal offences, the review has also focused on strengthening survivor protection and improving the effectiveness of the justice system.

He says the Bill represents an opportunity to strengthen Kenya's legal response to contemporary forms of sexual exploitation while reinforcing public confidence in the justice system. “Modernising the law to address technology-facilitated sexual offences is increasingly recognised as essential to protecting privacy, safeguarding human dignity, and ensuring that survivors can access timely, effective and meaningful justice in an increasingly digital society.”

Gender and Affirmative Action Principal Secretary Ann Wang’ombe observes that the reforms will improve case management, reduce systemic gaps, and ensure more effective access to justice for survivors. “The State Department for Gender remains committed to working with our justice-sector partners to strengthen the prevention and response to SGBV and femicide, while advancing a justice system that protects the dignity, rights and safety of every person.”

While advances in mobile technology have made image and video recording widely accessible, they have also increased risks of serious violations of privacy that can result in lasting psychological, social and economic harm.

The proposed amendments come nearly two decades after the enactment of Kenya's Sexual Offences Act, a landmark law that significantly strengthened the country's response to sexual violence. However, the rapid growth of digital technologies, social media platforms, and AI has introduced new forms of abuse that existing legislation was not originally designed to address.

Reporting originally appeared via Nation Africa. Read the full source for additional context.