For the Girls who Survived in Silence
Written by Pascaliah Nyaboke – Girls and Young Women Mentee
Good morning, everyone.
If I told you that most Kenyan girls learn fear before they learn their own worth, how many of you would disagree?
If I told you that some of us grew up in houses where the walls knew violence better than they knew laughter, would you call it exaggeration?
Because, some of us did not grow up. We survived childhood.
I am standing here today not because my story is extraordinary, but because it is painfully ordinary.
When I was 11, I learned that the world does not always love girls back. I learned that screams can be swallowed.
That neighbors can stand behind curtains, pretending not to hear a woman being beaten black and blue.
That a child can watch her mother regain consciousness because cold water was poured on her, just so the beating could continue.
I learned that survival sometimes means silence.
And silence…silence can become a second skin.
But today’s violence?
Oh, it has evolved. It has Wi-Fi.
It has followers.
It has anonymous accounts with no souls behind them.
Today, a girl speaks about her abuse, and the internet; those loud, uncultured ding dongs, will tell her she must have done something to deserve it.
They will turn her pain into memes, dig into her photos,
drag her into the mud.
Then her neighbors will screenshot it, send it to her parents,
and she will receive a second beating; one for the abuse she survived,
and another for daring to survive it loudly.
This is Kenya.
This is now.
This is us.
And if that shocks you,
what about the day a grown excuse of a man on X publicly typed that he wanted to
“have a taste of a minor”?
He even posted a photo of the child. And guess what?
He woke up the next morning and went on with his life.
Because in Kenya, a girl’s safety is still a suggestion. A child’s protection is still optional.
Justice is still delayed, and for most girls, justice never comes.
Our mothers suffered in silence. Our generation suffers in public. Both are violence.
Both are trauma.
And guess what, both are preventable.
But prevention has never been free. Prevention needs investment.
Not promises. Not hashtags.
Not speeches read from podiums. Investment!!
So today, I am not just speaking to survivors.
I am speaking to the funders, leaders, and the Government of Kenya.
This is not the time for photo ops.
This is not the time for empty statements.
This is not the time to praise the courage of survivors while giving them nothing to survive with.
If you want to prevent violence, then invest in:
- Safe houses that actually exist,
- School counsellors who are trained to listen,
- Disability-inclusive digital safety tools,
- Community-led programs,
- Police training that teaches empathy instead of mockery,
- Online monitoring systems that protect minors,
- Survivors’ economic empowerment,
- Justice that arrives before the funeral, not
Because let me tell you something uncomfortable:
The cost of doing nothing is paid in girls’ lives.
Every time you delay funding, another girl is buried.
Every time you postpone action, another child learns silence.
Every time you ignore digital violence, another minor becomes content for predators.
This is not drama.
This is not exaggeration. This is our reality.
And yet, even in this heavy truth, there is hope.
Because girls like me grew up, and we are no longer silent.
We are no longer watching.
We are no longer accepting violence as culture. We are demanding better.
Not for ourselves alone,
but for every girl who will come after us. So today, I say this:
To my 11-year-old self, you were never the problem. The system failed you, but I promise you, I will not fail the girls coming after us.
And to the leaders, the funders, the government, Invest now.
Invest boldly. Invest intentionally.
Because every shilling you withhold is another wound on a girl’s body.
And we are tired of burying children while attending conferences on prevention. The future is watching, the cameras are rolling, and history is recording.
Choose what side of it you want to stand on. Thank you.