If something has happened, here is what to do
You are not in trouble. Telling someone is the right move, and it is the one thing that most changes what happens next.
Fewer than 5% of Kenyan children who are harmed online report it to anyone official — usually because they think they will be blamed. Disrupting Harm Kenya, 2021
Who to contact
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Start here
National Child Helpline
116 Free, 24 hours, every day
WhatsApp 0722 116 116 — if calling is not safe or not possible
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DCI Child Protection Unit
For grooming, sexual exploitation, threats and blackmail
0800 722 203 Toll-free -
Police
If a child is in immediate danger
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KE-CIRT/CC
Hacked accounts, impersonation and other cyber incidents
0703 042 700 -
Report images online
To get sexual images of a child removed from the internet. You can report anonymously.
Internet Watch Foundation — Kenya portal
Short guides
Plain steps for the situations people ask about most.
+− Someone is threatening to share images of my child
Do not pay. Do not send more images. Paying almost never stops it, and it tells the person there is more to take.
Save the evidence before you block: screenshots of the messages, the username, the platform, the profile link. Then stop replying.
Call 116 or the DCI Child Protection Unit on 0800 722 203. Report the account to the platform. To get images removed, use the IWF Kenya portal.
Tell the child, clearly: this is not their fault and they are not in trouble. That sentence is what makes them able to keep talking to you.
+− My child is being bullied online
Screenshot everything first — messages, posts, comments, group names, dates. Evidence disappears when accounts are deleted.
Block and report the accounts on the platform itself. Then tell the school: if the people involved are classmates, the school is where this actually gets resolved.
If there are threats of violence, or the bullying involves sexual images, treat it as a police matter — 112.
Call 116 if your child needs someone to talk to who is not you. That is a normal thing to need.
+− My child saw something they cannot unsee
Most children who encounter disturbing content did not go looking for it. Around a third of Kenyan children who encountered sexual content online came across it unexpectedly.
Do not lead with questions about what they searched. Lead with: "That must have been horrible. You did the right thing telling me."
Report the content on the platform. If it showed a child being abused, report it through the IWF Kenya portal.
Watch for sleep problems and withdrawal over the next couple of weeks. If it persists, call 116 and ask about counselling routes.
+− An adult has been messaging my child
Do not confront the person or delete the account. Both destroy the evidence and can push them to move faster.
Save the conversation history, the profile and any phone numbers. Then call the DCI Child Protection Unit on 0800 722 203 or 116.
In Kenya, the person is most often someone the child already knows. That is difficult, and it is also why this needs people outside the family involved.
Disrupting Harm Kenya, 2021+− I do not know if this is serious enough to report
It is. Call 116 and ask.
The helpline exists exactly for the calls where someone is not sure. You will not waste anyone's time, and you do not need to have worked out what happened before you call.