Mwinyi revealed that some children practice sodomy as a habit they learned from older boys.

But girls too can be sodomised.

Most of the perpetrators received at the centre are mostly close to the victims as either relatives, neighbours or friend, she said.

GBVRC is a partnership between Coast Provincial General Hospital and the International Centre for Reproductive Health Kenya. Many residents don't know about it so many cases are not reported.

The centre receives 50 to 60 rape cases a month, three-quarters of which are reported late. The Centre encourages early reporting.

Mwinyi said it is important to report cases early to prevent unwanted pregnancies and HIV.

“Three-quarters of survivors we attend to report after 72 hours when it is too late to prevent HIV infection or pregnancy.

They are supposed to come before 72 hours so the medication works,” the nurse said.

She said the community needs to be educated on the need for early reporting.

Men are also victims of rape but many remain silent, Mwinyi sad.

“You might find only two men above 18 who have reported and we start asking ourselves, aren't men getting raped?

When  we go for sensitization meetings, men will come out saying they have been raped." 

She said they have never received a case in which a mother has raped her own male child.

Mwinyi said most parents don't view sodomy as defilement [of a girl] so they don't report it, she said.

“Parents ask how are her private parts and when she tell them they are safe, they relax, even though the child has been sodomized."