A MONTHLY MAGAZINE BY PEACE INITIATIVE KENYA (PIK) PROJECT
| AUGUST 2014 | VOLUME 2
Suffering in silence Persons living with disability bear the brunt of Sexual Gender Based Violence
PROMOTING A SOCIETY FREE OF GENDER VIOLENCE
About Peace Initiative Kenya
P
eace Initiative Kenya (PIK) is a threeyear USAID funded project working towards the prevention of and response to gender based violence (GBV) in Kenya. The project aims at supporting prevention of Gender Based Violence and improving the current GBV response framework at the national and county levels.
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To improve national and county-level genderbased violence (GBV) service delivery systems and policy implementation.
Project Objectives: • •
The PIK project is implemented by the International Rescue Committee (IRC), together with local partners; Coalition on Violence against Women (COVAW), Rural Women’s Peace Link (RWPL), Sauti Ya Wanawake – Pwani, Health Care Assistance Kenya (HAK) through GBV hotline 1195 and African Woman and Child Feature Service (AWC).
The project covers nine counties: Taita Taveta, Kwale, Mombasa, Kisumu, Migori, Kisii, Uasin Gishu, Nandi and Trans Nzoia to improve GBV prevention, as well as increase access and utilization of GBV services through community outreach and other awareness raising efforts. At the national level, the PIK project works closely with the National Gender and Equality Commission (NGEC), Ministry of Devolution and Planning, specifically the Directorate of Gender, Anti-Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) Board and other stakeholders to support the Government in creating an enabling environment for coordination of GBV prevention and service provision.
Strengthen county engagement in preventing and responding to GBV
Increase access and utilization of GBV services through community outreach and other awareness raising efforts
Editorial Team 2
Page 4 Police officer caught in the act of defiling retarded girl
Regent Court, along Argwings
Institutions of justice fail to cater for disabled persons
Contact the Chief of Party
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International Rescue Committee Kodhek Road
Phone: +254 726082140
Email: PIK@rescue.org
facebook.com/GBVServiceProviders Africa Woman and Child Feature Service
Nairobi Baptist Church Court, Green Lane, off Ngong Road Nairobi
Phone: +254 20 2720554, +254 722 209510 Email: info@awcfs.org
Website: www.awcfs.org Twitter: @AWCFS
Facebook: African Woman & Child
CONTRIBUTORS
Jebiwot Sumbeiywo Joyce Muchena Simon Panyako Valine Moraa
Jane Godia
AWC Team
SUB EDITOR:
Managing Director:
Joyce Chimbi
Ruth Omukhango Benson Mwanga Ruth Ayugi Omondi Gwengi Grace Shali Henry Kahara Ben Oroko Faith Muiruri
Programme Manager:
Ruth Omukhango
Helpline comes to the rescue of sexual abuse victims Page 10 Mama Dorcas Gibran Inspiring change in the fight against Gender Based Violence Page 13 GBV, culture, human rights and law at a crossroads
Managing Editor:
| AUGUST 2014 | VOLUME 2
Minors with disability a target for rapists in Taveta
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IRC Team
This production is made possible by the generous support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The contents do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government.
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Contact Information
Project Goal:
Arthur Okwemba
Contents
INTERNATIONAL RESCUE COMMITTEE
Carolyne Oyugi Valine Moraa DESIGN & printing:
Vieve360
AFRICAN WOMAN AND CHILD FEATURE
PROMOTING A SOCIETY FREE OF GENDER VIOLENCE
Suffering in silence Persons living with disability bear the brunt of sexual violence
followed by sodomy.
“We receive about six to seven cases of sexual violence in a week but the challenge has been ensuring that survivors receive legal justice,” notes Wairimu. Defilement
By Ruth Omukhango
O
n entering Marylyn Anyango’s (not her real name) one roomed house at mid-day, one will easily notice her lying on a mattress on the floor, oblivious to what the future holds for her. Seventeen year old Mary Teresa, the last born in her family of four, lives with her mother at the Kenya Cooperative Creameries (KCC) slum neighbouring Kariobangi South.
As visitors discuss her condition, she turns her head to the left and right in an attempt to contribute to the conversation smiling broadly. One can easily be deceived that she understands what is going on around her. Silenced
The silence is the slum at this hour of the day is heavy, and a clear indication that most of the children of her age and even younger are in school. However, this is not the same for Teresa who is living with a disability due to brain damage that has since left her dumb. However, it is not only the dilemma of disability that Teresa is facing. At tender age, she has had to deal with the challenge of not only living without basic needs but also having been abused sexually twice.
Only six months ago, Teresa lost her one year old daughter having been conceived as a result of a rape ordeal by a neighbour. To add insult to injury, during her child’s funeral, she was also sexually violated by a close relative.
According to Teresa’s mother, her daughter’s state of disability began when she was only three months old. She was admitted at the Kenyatta National Hospital for six months due to complications of pneumonia and asthma and her life has never been the same since then. Due to her condition, she has never had an opportunity to go to school. “Due to insecurity in the slum, I have to stay at home to take care of her because she cannot do anything for herself. I have to monitor what
Although she continues her daily chores, Mary Teresa is yet to come to terms with her circumstances. PHOTO: george ngesa
she does and even escort her to the toilet,” says 50 year old Anyango who is a widow and spends her time sewing embroidery table cloths. She adds: “Living in the slums is challenging due to high levels of crime. My daughter does not know the difference between yes and no. She also tends to follow people anyhow.” Anyango decided to close down her business as a hairdresser and now depends entirely on her eldest daughter who lives nearby to provide for her and Teresa.
What worries Anyango is that Teresa’s perpetrators are still moving freely having bribed their way out of the case. She notes that getting justice for her daughter is an uphill task after she realised that she was wasting her time following up on perpetrators while the local administration had already been bribed to drop the case. During the first incident of sexual violence that was carried out by a neighbour, the case never moved beyond the chief ’s camp as the perpetrator, “a married man bribed the local administration and we were only advised to settle the matter among ourselves”.
“When the chief advised us to settle the matter amongst ourselves , I knew that there was no justice for the poor and the case was not going anywhere and decided to abandon it and take care of my daughter as she nursed her pregnancy.”
The second violation was the worst as the perpetrator was her sister’s son. Despite seeking medical attention at the nearby Medicine San Frontiers (MSF) clinic, and with clear records confirming the violation, she has had to deal with trauma of dealing with a close relative who demanded that she drops the case. Release “My own father called me and requested me to forgive the boy and drop the case as it would bring shame to the family,” says Anyango. Despite locking him at the police station in Buru Buru, relatives mobilised and paid KSh20,000 to have him released on bond. Like the first case, this second case did not see the light of day. Anyango decided to drop the matter. She only hopes that her daughter will be able to receive support to free her to go back to her work.
In informal settlements such as the KCC slum, women and girls such as Teresa continue to suffer in silence but only a few of them receive justice.
According to Teresia Wairimu, a Community Social Worker in the informal settlement, cases of gender based violence continue and are triggered by insecurity, drug abuse as well as high levels of unemployment among the residents. She says the most common forms of sexual violence in the area are rape and defilement
According to a baseline survey conducted by the Coalition on Violence Against Women (COVAW) on the knowledge, awareness and prevalence of sexual violence among women and girls with intellectual disabilities in Kenya, despite that World Health Organization (WHO) statistics of Persons with Disability has been approximated at 10 per cent of the population, there is still no clear indication of the precise number of persons with intellectual disabilities and in particular women and girls. The report further denotes that the most prevalent nature of sexual violence among girls and women with intellectual disabilities is rape and defilement with most of the perpetrators being men familiar to them, especially someone within their neighbourhoods.
It is estimated that, 80 per cent of Persons with Disabilities live in low income countries such as Kenya, where they experience social and economic disadvantage as well as denial or rights. Women and girls such as Teresa are more vulnerable and at risk and hence need to ensure access to justice for survivors through the provision of integrated services. According to Jacky Namuye, Executive Director of Grace Agenda, a community based organisation based in Kariobangi South, most of the sexual violence cases within the slums of KCC and Mathare that involve persons living with disability are never reported as the survivors are usually limited in expression and speaking for themselves. Kenya adheres to the UN Standard Rules on the Equalization of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities and passed the People with Disabilities Act in 2003. This legislation gives rights, but does not set the structure necessary for those rights to be realised. The Act does not address the specific rights of women with disabilities nor does it deal with gender based violence, which is perpetrated at a high rate against persons living with disabilities. | AUGUST 2014 | VOLUME 2
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PROMOTING A SOCIETY FREE OF GENDER VIOLENCE
MCA raises alarm over sexual abuse of mentally ill persons
By Omondi Gwengi
A
member of Siaya County Assembly representing persons living with disability has raised concerns over flagrant sexual abuse of mentally ill persons in the society. Margaret Oketch notes that those living with mentally disability are sexually abused repeatedly by different people.
She notes that most of perpetrators take advantage of the mentally disabled because they cannot fight back. “It is very sad that some responsible men, most of them with families, have been sexually abusing these women because they are not able to identify the attackers,” Oketch explains adding that very few of these perpetrators are ever convicted.
A mother with her children living with disability. PHOTO: JOSEPH MUKUBWA
She notes that vast majority of crimes against mentally ill people are not reported. Speaking after visiting a family of persons with disability in Bondo, Oketch is desperate to end the scourge of rape of mentally handicapped girls and women. Oketch says that she is working with other stakeholders to end the scourge that has terrorized persons with mental disability.
Police officer caught in the act of defiling retarded girl public who arrived to witness what was going on.”
By Benson Mwanga
V
iolence against girls and women living with disability continues unabated. In Taita Taveta County, a senior Administration Police officer has been arrested for allegedly defiling a mentally retarded girl. According to provincial administration officials, the AP who is a corporal attached at the Kishushe Chief ’s Camp is said to have sexually abused the minor at the local Chief ’s home. Area Chief Joseph Meso who recorded at statement at the Wundanyi Police Station said the police officer was found red handed defiling the minor by his wife. Members of the public arrested and handed him to the police for action.
According to the chief, the police officer is a frequent visitor to his house and is well known by the family. County Administration Commander J K Mativo confirmed and said the suspect would be taken to court to answer charges of sexual violence.
Police force on the spotlight as a police officer is caught in the act. PHOTO: JOSEPH MUKUBWA
Alert “The girl who is my close relative was defiled by the police officer in my house. My wife found the police office defiling the minor and alerted members of the public who came and arrested him,” explained Meso.
The police officer locked the door
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from inside and sexually abused the 15-year-old girl. The victim screamed for help and when my wife peeped through the window, she found the police officer sexually molesting the girl in bed,” Meso explained.
He added: “My wife locked the door from outside and alerted the
Mativo condemned the beastly act saying it was not only against code of ethics of the police force but frustrating in the war against gender based violence. “We are supposed to protect the lives and property of Kenyans. The officer went against the ethics of the National Police Service and will face the full force of the law,” reiterated Mativo. The incident comes at a time when cases of sexual violence continue to increase in the region.
PROMOTING A SOCIETY FREE OF GENDER VIOLENCE
Institutions of justice fail to cater for disabled persons By Omondi Gwengi
W
hen a person living with hearing and speaking disability is violated, access to justice becomes another challenge in addition to their physical one. Reporting gender based violence for a person living with hearing impairment, often proves difficult as there are no police officers with knowledge of sign language stationed in police stations. This then makes it difficult for them to report cases and get justice.
According to Abigail Ambiyo, coordinator of the Association of Professional Women Living With Disability, accessibility into police stations remains the biggest challenge. Force
Ambiyo notes that entry into police stations is not friendly for persons with disability and they are forced to crawl. She adds that the desks where people submit reports are also raised. “While getting to a police station comes with it challenges, the situation gets worse because the police do not have patience of dealing with those with hearing and speaking,” explains Ambiyo. She notes: “Even just giving a disabled person time to write their report at a police station is not easy.” Provoke
Ambiyo notes that the perception that women provoke men to be raped is very wrong and has worked negatively especially among women with mental disabilities.
“A girl with mental disability might not know how to ‘sit properly’ and she will be accused of having provoked a man to rape her,” observes Ambiyo. The stigma that goes with rape is worse for parents with children living with disability. “Nobody wants to come out and say their child with disability was raped because of the stigma associated with it,” she adds, noting, “some families are even paid off to silence them”. According to Betty Gachago Siaya County Police Commander it would be important for the Government to employ at least one police officer
Life for those with physical disability remains a challenge and a caretaker must watch over them day and night to keep abusers at bay. PHOTO:joseph mukubwa
established without the disabled in mind. Access
She notes: “Most of these buildings are old and are also inaccessible to persons with disability.”
“A girl with mental disability might not know how to ‘sit properly’ and she will be accused of having provoked a man to rape her.”
Abigail Ambiyo,
Coordinator of the Association of Professional Women Living With Disability who is specialized in sign language interpretation in every county to help in attend to cases involving those with hearing impairment.
“There are some police officers who were taken for training on sign language interpretation, but it seems they were posted in areas where cases of hearing impairment are high,” Gachago explains, admitting that all police stations in the county were
However, Gachago says that soon there will be new and improved structures in all police stations and prisons in Siaya to make them accessible to persons with disability. She notes that they are going to make sure that new police stations are fitted with ramps.
In an interview in her office in Siaya, Gachago said that they have already rolled out a service where any disabled can make his or her report without necessarily coming to the station. Receive
“Should we receive a case where somebody cannot come to the station to make any report due to any form of disability, it is our responsibility to go to that person’s place to get the report,” she explains.
Other than offering accessibility and quality service to the disabled, the county police boss issued a stern warning on disabled who break the laws that they will not be pardoned. She said that some disabled who have been committing crimes thinking
that their condition will make them get away with crimes should know that the law applies equally to all. Disclosed
“We had a case in Rarieda where some two women who are disabled were arrested and arraigned in court for selling illegal liquor,” she disclosed adding that they shall only pardon petty offences.
According to the officer in charge of Siaya GK Prison Mr Philip Kahi, they still lack facilities that are accessible to persons with disability. “We have a lorry which we usually use to transport inmates to court and for any case of disability, we usually use a van,” Kahi said adding that they have already started making a few changes on their facilities to make them accessible to all. Pledge
The representative for persons with disability in the Siaya County Assembly, Margaret Oketch, applauded the new developments in police stations and pledged her support where possible.
“As a representative of the disabled and a member of the budget committee in the county assembly, I am going to spearhead allocation of funds to persons with disability as a way of improving their livelihoods,” said Oketch. | AUGUST 2014 | VOLUME 2
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PROMOTING A SOCIETY FREE OF GENDER VIOLENCE
Prohibition Against Female Genital Mutilation Act criminalizes the vice both in Kenya and even where one moves a person across the border with the purpose of undertaking FGM.
According to police informants, in Mombasa County GBV is prevalence particularly in Likoni area over the last three years largely relating to incest, defilement, economic and domestic violence with physical assault of both women and men), family neglect and non-maintenance, child neglect and child labour.
FIDA-K executive director Christine Ochieng’ speaks out against increasing cases of gender based violence. PHOTO: awc correspondent
County status of GBV reports reveal worrisome trends By Joyce Chimbi
A
ccording to the Kenya Demographic Health Survey (KDHS) 2008-2009, the most comprehensive national survey defines Gender Based Violence (GBV) violence as any physical, sexual or psychological violence that occurs within the family or general community. The survey notes that 43 percent of married women have experienced sexual violence at one point of their life. The Kenya Demographic Health Survey analysis by marital status reveals that women who are divorced, separated, or widowed are more likely to be exposed to violence — at 60 percent — than their married at 42 percent and never-married (at 25 percent) counterparts. Extent
But married, separated, widowed or divorced women are not the only ones at risk of gender based violence. A research carried out in Mombasa, Taita Taveta and Kwale counties by the Peace Initiative Kenya (PIK), a coalition that has focused on peace messaging and
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mobilizing communities to enhance their preparedness and capacity to prevent and respond to gender based violence, reveal that GBV is rampant particularly in relation to children.
In Kwale, for instance, the study on status of GBV revealed that “young girls are booked early for marriage and dowry paid in instalments. The county has high cases of early marriages, early pregnancy, and forced marriages. Once girls are impregnated they are forcefully married off.” In a school at Ndavaya, there was high turnout in standard one enrolment with about 112 girls. By class five, there was only one girl left, the study notes. This study come in the heels of other national and comprehensive studies beside Kenya Demographic Health Survey. The Kenya National Bureau of Standards (KNBS) 2010 has also presented findings on gender based violence which indicate that about half of all women sampled from the age of 15 and above have experienced some form of domestic violence. The same data shows that the experience of domestic violence varied and occurs in all forms ranging
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from emotional, physical, economic and sexual, rising with age.
In the 15-49 years category 43 per cent of women reported having experienced some form of GBV in their lifetime, with 29 percent reporting an experience in the previous year; 16 percent having ever been sexually abused, and 13 percent reporting that the violence was meted on them during the 12 months immediately preceding the survey. Report
In Kwale County as is the case in Mombasa and Taita Taveta, the low reporting level of rape and defilement cases can be attributed to culture and fear of stigmatization of the survivors leads to fear of reporting the cases. In most cases, those who report do not follow up either for counselling or court case. In Kwale County the report reveals, particularly among the Maasai communities “FGM is boldly practiced with disregard of the fact that the practice is a criminal offence and where there is fear of apprehension, the culprits run off across the border to Tanzania. The
According to the status report, various institutions in Mombasa County having been recording the degree and magnitude of GBV in the region. The Solidarity with Women in Distress (SOLWODI), a GBV institution, records an average of ten defilement cases in a month, the International Centre for Reproductive Health (ICRH) records on average two defilement survivors every day, and up to eight survivors during weekends. Further, the children’s office recorded a total of 37 early pregnancies. According to the study “this figure is indicative of a larger problem considering that not all cases of defilement lead to pregnancies and reported. The number is projected to be much larger than 37 per year”. Record
Child neglect and abuse was reportedly high with the Children’s office recording under the GBV maintenance docket, cases of up to 1,279 cases between July 2012 to June 2013, and 1,463 cases in July 2013 to February 2014.
The situation is similarly bleak in Taita Taveta County. Women here have no right to choose the number of children or spacing between births. Further, Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is still practiced in the county particularly among the Maasais and Durumas.
But women and girls are not the only victims. According to the study, physical violence is also common with cases of beating and causing grievous harm being perpetrated by both men and women. Cause
“Some of the causes associated with GBV include increasing poverty, women’s dependency on men for livelihood, pornography, rising cases of child headed households, alcoholism, drugs and drugs abuse, children watching intimacy moments between adults (kupiga chabo), parents encouraging children to have early sex and child to child sex.”
PROMOTING A SOCIETY FREE OF GENDER VIOLENCE
Helpline comes to the rescue of sexual abuse victims
report the violation which led to the launch of investigations against the perpetrator,” informs John.
Survivors of violence are receiving free medical and psychosocial services
“The report indicates that indeed the girls had been defiled on several occasions,” confirms John.
GBV Helpline 1195 is a toll free helpline supported by USAID funded project, Peace Initiative Kenya (PIK). It provides first line of response for victims and survivors of GBV by providing quick information to callers on where to receive medical care, police services, legal aid as well as psychosocial counselling among others at no cost. The call centre also follows up on cases to ensure referrals are made as much as it is possible.
By valine morra
I
n June 2014, John the father of a seven year old girl, called Gender Based Violence (GBV) helpline 1195 to seek advice and help. His daughter, together with two of her friends aged nine and 12 had been sexually defiled by a neighbour. According to John, the perpetrator aged 23 had attacked the girls on several occasions. “He had threatened to kill the girls if they ever revealed the matter to their parents,” reports John. “My wife and I knew our daughter was not okay when we noticed that she was walking with difficulty. We inquired from her as to why she was walking that way and that is when she opened up and told us what had been happening. My wife checked her only to find that she had bruises on her genitals. This broke our heart and left us worried.” John quickly reached out to the
At the hospital, with the support of Helpline 1195 the girls received free medical and psychosocial services. A comprehensive medical report was also done to all the affected children by a doctor at the same hospital without any charges.
The Helpline 1195 is not only changing how cases of violence are reported, but also how they are handled. PHOTO: awc correspondent
parents of the other two girls to find out if their daughters had undergone the same ordeal. When it was confirmed by the parents, they knew they needed to take their children to hospital for immediate treatment.
“Unfortunately we could not afford the medical expenses for our children’s treatment. Luckily, I recalled about GBV helpline 1195 being run by HealthCare Assistance Kenya (HAK), an implementing
partner in the Peace Initiative Kenya project,” says John.
“I had heard about it on radio a year and half ago, and that the toll free helpline supports survivors of sexual violence at no cost. I called the number and reported what had happened,” he explains.
“Through the helpline, we were referred to Makadara District Hospital which is within our locality and later to the police station to
John’s family is grateful to Helpline 1195 for coming to their aid at their time of need. “No hospital would have attended to us without payment but my daughter and her friends were able to receive good, speedy medical attention,” says John. He adds: “The other affected parents have also expressed their gratitude and together we were able to reach out to three other families within our locality in Changamwe Location, Mombasa County and referred them to the helpline for assistance.” The perpetrator is in custody and the matter is already in court. “Concrete evidence has been provided against the perpetrator and we are confident that the court will find him guilty and sentence him to jail for a very long time,” says an emotional John.
Women leaders in Taita Taveta up the fight against GBV By Grace Shali
W
omen leaders in Taita Taveta County have started a campaign aimed at reducing cases of gender based violence in the region. Led by the County Women Representative Joyce Lay, the women leaders who include Members of County Assembly, former women leaders and Maendeleo ya Wanawake Organisation officials have vowed to ensure perpetrators of sexual gender based violence face the law.
Issues of rape, defilement, sodomy,
early pregnancies and incest are rampant in the region, often with negative consequences where the survivors, mainly girls, are forced to drop out of school.
Mary Mngola and Valerie Mwadime, both members of the Taita Taveta County assembly moved a motion to form a bill that will seek to address sexual and gender based violence. They are seeking to have a legislation passed to mitigate against sexual and gender based violence as well as ensure serious action is taken against perpetrators.
Evidence According Lay most culprits go scot free due to lack of evidence as most residents are not aware of how to preserve evidence. “Some even fear coming out to testify against the culprits whenever they are arraigned in court thus posing a big challenge to the fight against GBV,” noted Lay. However she said they will not give up on the cause. “We are ready to sensitize the common man and woman on issues of GBV and are ready to demonstrate because our children are suffering,” explained Lay.
forefront in the fight against gender based violence in the county.
Mwatate Sub-county Deputy County Commissioner Shufaa Omar Mwijuma has also partnered with Maendeleo ya Wanawake Organisation in the region to create awareness on the importance of giving out information on sexual and gender based violence through formation of village committees.
According to Mwijuma, the main affected areas are Mwakitau, Kamtonga and Rong’e Kati.
She urged leaders to be at the
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PROMOTING A SOCIETY FREE OF GENDER VIOLENCE
Taita Taveta County set to have the first GBV rescue centre By Benson Mwanga
P
erturbed by the rising sexual offenses cases and the agony the victims are undergoing, Martha Marura Mgendi has donated her one piece of land for the construction of a child rescue centre in Taita-Taveta County. According to Marura’s mother, Beata Mgendi her daughter who is married in The Netherlands donated the one-acre plot at Landi area in Mwatate District to the local community to put up the facility in the wake of increased cases of sexual offenses and defilement.
Parents of Mshimba Secondary School and education officials said some of the affected students have dropped out of school while others are still continuing with their education. According to the education officials, three pregnant girls are still in school continuing with their education. “The students will continue with their education until they give birth,” said John Kilonzo Mwatate District Education Officer. Child abuse
“The well-known culprits are running scot free and local provincial administration officials are doing little to arrest them. We want the government to intervene,” said Kadoka, a villager in Msau Location.
Marura is the founder and chair of Beyond Innocence Foundation, a nongovernmental organisation operating in The Netherlands. “The Foundation will jointly implement the project with the county government.
Taita-Taveta County Women Representative Hon. Joyce Wanjala Lay plants a tree at Ngongodinyi Primary School in Wundanyi division where she decried the high rate of child abuse cases on the region. Photo Benson Mwanga.
Rampant
“Majority of child sexual abuse cases go unreported because of fear of stigmatization, shame and general fear instilled in the children’s mind by their abusers who in most cases are people related to them or living with them,” explains Mgendi. To support the project the County Government promised to inject KSh50 million for the construction of the facility to protect sexually abused children in the region.
Speaking at the ground breaking ceremony of the rescue centre recently John Mruttu, Taita Taveta County Governor noted with regret that scores of children in the county continue living with their guardians even when they are the ones who sexually abused them. “Some of the children are abused by those who have the responsibility to protect them. This means that the
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The victim was defiled, sodomized and dumped in a culvert in Werugha Location, Wundanyi Division of Taita Taveta County. She was also infected with sexual transmitted diseases.
At the same time eleven secondary school girls have been defiled and impregnated in the region in the recent past.
“My daughter has always been touched by the plight of the sexually abused children and that is why she has decided to donate the land for the construction of the facility. She has donated the piece of land to give back to the community,” explains Mgendi.
Once completed, the centre will offer prevention programmes to children at risk especially victims of sexual abuse which is rampant in the region.
old epileptic girl bringing to the fore sexual vices taking root in the county as pressure continues to mount on authorities to establish a rescue centres to save sexually abused minors and other victims of gender based violence.
children carry these wounds and scars with them for the rest of their lives,” noted Mruttu. Rape, defilement, sodomy, incest, early marriages and pregnancies as well as child labour and prostitution among other forms gender based violence are rampant in the region. Mruttu noted that the rescue centre will go a long way in providing a safe haven for sexually abused children. The centre will have two hostels for girls and boys, an administration block, classrooms, health facility and recreational facilities.
“We are in dire need of a rescue centre because we have none at the moment. The victims of sexual violence are abuses by people close to them. Living with their molester’s make them anguished and stigmatized after giving evidence in courts of law,” Mruttu noted. It is also good news to the victims of gender based violence as the governor banned the KSh1,000 fee imposed on the victims by health authorities in all
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public health facilities in the region.
Mruttu regretted that sexually abused children cannot concentrate in class after their experience. He said sexual abuse cases in the County are worrying and underscored the need to protect children at all cost. Threatening
“More than two children are sexually abused every week in the County. This trend is threatening education of the girl child in the region,” said Mruttu. He blamed widespread sale and consumption of illicit brews and drugs on the escalating child abuse cases in the region. The facility comes at a time when the country is still struggling to put in place a national gender based violence policy and also have enactment of the Protection Against Domestic Violence Bill within a situation that has seen increased cases of sexual exploitation of minors.
One of the recent cases is the multiple defilement of a nine-year-
County Director of Education Jonathan Nyamai and Deputy County Commissioner Shufaa Mwijuma confirmed the incidents and blamed parents for the rising cases of child abuse in the region.
“The problem we are having is that some unscrupulous parents are complicating the fight against child abuse by settling the issues at home. They have failed to volunteer information that could lead to the arrest of the suspects who are still at large,” said Kilonzo.
He added: “We are getting a lot of resistance from parents who collude with culprits to perpetrate the vice and that is why we are involving provincial administration to deal with the situation.”
“Sexually abused children live in the same environment with the perpetrators of the sexual violence. Sometimes they are intimidated by the culprits and we want them protected from interference to pave way for justice to take its course,” noted Mwijuma. According Mwijuma cases of sexual violence against children would reduce by 50 per cent if the child rescue centre is completed.
PROMOTING A SOCIETY FREE OF GENDER VIOLENCE
Minors with disability a target for rapists in Taveta By Ben Mwanga
T
According to Taveta Officer Commanding Police Division (OCPD) Gababa Darso, the suspect arrived at his parents’ home in the outskirts of Taveta town late at night drunk and disorderly. He ordered his elderly mother Martha Kitele out of her house. “The suspect chased his 70-yearold mother out of the house, closed the door and defiled the helpless 17year-old girl who has been living with multiple body deformities,” explains Darso.
After committing the heinous act, the man went ahead and hit the orphan with a blunt object, killing her instantly.
Speaking from his Taveta office, Darso says when the old woman managed to get back to the house, it was only to find her grandchild lifeless in a pool of blood. The body had several injuries in her body. In another shocking incident which occurred recently, a nine-year epileptic girl was repeatedly gang rapped and dumped in a culvert at Werugha Trading Centre in Taita District of Taita Taveta County.
And in a related incident, an Assistant Chief was early this month arraigned in court charged with raping a mentally retarded woman in the county.
The accused Elijah Vorogha Kachula of Ndembonyi/Baghau Sublocation denied the charge before Wundanyi acting Principal Magistrate Isaac Orenge who released him on a bond of KSh150,000 and a surety of a similar amount.
he recent defiling and killing of a 17 year old girl living with multiple deformities by her uncle in Taita-Taveta County has brought to fore the severity of sexual violence offences that have become rampant in the region. The girl who had been living with her 70 year old grandmother had multiple deformities at the time of the incident that sparked public outcry in the region. The suspect David Kitele is facing murder charges in court.
increased incidences of defilement, rape, incest, sodomy and gender based violence.
The accused was charged that on September 10 last year at Rong’e Juu location in Mwatate District, he unlawfully had carnal knowledge with a woman who is mentally retarded. PIK project support launch of GVRC in Kisumu county in 2013. PHOTO: courtesy irc
According to Denise Venant, her daughter had on numerous occasions been defiled. “I am a widow and the victim is my third born. She was also defiled last year by a man from Marumange Village in Werugha Location who infected her with a sexual transmitted disease,” explains Venant. Ignorant of the consequences of the sexual abuse, Venant narrates the tribulations her daughter has been going through in the hands of rapists in spite of her disability. According to County Director of Children’s Affairs Mwasiwa Boga and Preston Mwalugha, a human rights activist, the girl was defiled and sodomized by the attackers who left her for dead.
“Reports indicate the girl was first defiled and then sodomized before the attackers left her for dead. Medical authorities have also confirmed that she had been defiled,” explains Boga. The survivor was later taken to a special school in Mombasa for safe custody.
Alert Mwalugha who is also the victim’s neighbour says she was found lying unconscious and in pain by women going to fetch water early in the morning who alerted the authorities.
“The victim does not speak and she always stays in shopping centres most of the time. Following the incident she cannot walk or sit,” he says.
“I got information about the rape ordeal and called the family to tell them not to wash the victim as this would interfere with evidence. I made frantic effort to take the girl to the hospital,” explains Mwalugha who has been supporting the family. The victim’s family is poor and in dire need of assistance. Apart from the GBV survivor and her mother there are two children with disabilities.
The sexual molestation of the girl is an indication of demented sex pests and perverts who are on the loose in the region.
The incident comes at a time when the county is still grappling with
He also faced an alternative charge of indecent assault with an adult contrary to section 1 (a) of Sexual Offences Act.
Four women among them Women Representative Joyce Lay and County Assembly Members Hope Mwakio, Mary Mngola, Anne Ngaluma and Roselyne Mshambala condemned the rising cases of child abuse and called for a lasting solution to the menace. Speaking in Wundanyi town recently, the leaders decried the rising cases of sexual abuse involving minors saying something must be done to curb the worrying trend. Prevalence
The area is also rife with cases of child labour, child prostitution, early marriages and unwanted pregnancies and frantic efforts should be made to address the vices.
“We are perturbed by the rising sexual offences in the county and drastic measures must be taken to put a stop to this madness,” says Mwakio. “Sexual abuse cases should be reported immediately they occur to relevant authorities to avert interference with evidence,” added Darso.
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PROMOTING A SOCIETY FREE OF GENDER VIOLENCE
Mama Dorcas Gibran Inspiring change in the fight against Gender Based Violence kings of change groups that create awareness among children on issues related to gender based violence like early marriages and pregnancies as well as female genital mutilation in Taita Taveta. The groups are also made to understand the importance of education.
By valine moraa
D
orcus Gibran’s passion and articulate views in fighting for the girl child has won her awards. Gibran has used every opportunity to ensure the girl-child does not face the many obstacles she encountered in her pursuit for education.
Schools management allow students to hold open forums to debate on GBV in which Mama Gibran and other Sauti Taita Taveta chapters are invited to take part and give advice.
She has spent much of her adult life promoting education for the girlchild in Taita Taveta County, a region known for placing a low premium on girls’ education.
“As a result of the queens of change and kings of change groups, children are getting enlightened on issues of GBV. The number of girls pursuing education has increased in the region,” says Gibran. She adds: “Female genital mutilation and early pregnancies have also reduced.”
Due to her efforts, many girls in the region have managed to get education up to college levels. According to the Ministry of Education in Taveta sub-County, Taita Taveta County, estimates indicate that enrolment of the girl-child grew from 25 per cent in 2008 to 70 per cent in 2014.
Mama Gibran also leads community forums on GBV awareness creation and legal trainings organised by Sauti Taita Taveta chapters that target women, men and young people
Mama Gibran, as most people call her, contributed greatly to this success. Coming from a community where girl-child education is trivialised, she has been instrumental in reversing this attitude.
Dorcas Gibran has been recognised for her exceptional efforts to promote girl child education and campaigning against Female Genital Mutilation. PHOTO: valine moraa
I grew up in times when boys went to school while girls remained at home to do household chores as they were taught how to become wives”
level to the larger Taita Taveta County. Over the years, Gibran has taken part in various trainings on reconciliation and dialogue as well as Gender Based Violence to strengthen her engagement at the community level.
She recalls how in her childhood, her father’s peers would tease him for staying in a marriage that bore him only female children.
“My father’s friends urged him to marry other women who would bear him sons,” Mama Gibran remembers. “They said my mother was not woman enough because she had given birth to ten children who were all female. He was even advised not to take us to school.” She notes that her father acted to the contrary. They were all taken to school. However, the preference for the boy-child overwhelmed him. He had had to stop Gibran’s education when she was in Form Two so that he could use the money to pay school fees for the newest member in their family, her last born brother. “My parents were poor and hardly made enough to support all of us. As the first born, I had to assume responsibilities and contribute to the education of my siblings.”
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I grew up in times when boys went to school while girls remained to do household chores where they were taught how to become wives.”
Mama Dorcas Gibran, It is from these responsibilities that she developed a passion that expanded her focus from the family
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Mama Gibran was recognised at the 2014 International Women Drivers of Change Award Ceremony for her exceptional efforts towards promoting girl-child education and campaigning against Female Genital Mutilation in Taita Taveta County. She was one of 49 women to receive the award from the United States Ambassador to Kenya Robert Godec. Mama Gibran is the chairlady for the board members of Sauti Ya Wanawake Pwani, a local partner organisation supported by the USAID funded Peace Initiative Kenya project to advocate against GBV in three Counties of the Coastal Kenya. She also serves as the chairlady for Sauti Taita Taveta Chapters.
Under Sauti ya Wanawake Pwani, Mama Gibran spearheads queens and
Initially, Sauti ya Wanawake Taita Taveta Chapter used to empower parents on the harmful effects of FGM, but most parents who underwent the empowerment process did not take it seriously as the cultural rite continued to be practiced.
“Sauti ya Wanawake Taita Taveta chapter have changed how empowerment creation against FGM is delivered,” Gibran explains. She adds: “In partnership with a professional medical doctor, we now have a programme in schools within Taita Taveta County where children are educated on the harmful effects of FGM.”These include excessive bleeding that may lead to death, complications during childbirth as well as promoting early marriages and school dropouts. Topics discussed by Mama Gibran and Sauti Taita Taveta chapters during GBV forums held in schools and at community level include sexual and gender based violence.
They also incorporate steps to take when violated, opening up to parents or people that can be trusted when violated, importance of education, effects of drugs and alcohol abuse. These forums have helped girls make informed life decisions.
PROMOTING A SOCIETY FREE OF GENDER VIOLENCE
through this kind of rite which we have been supporting since 2009.”
She said alternative rites of passage also support better maternal health because women are then free from diseases or complications associated with the female genital cut.
Women leaders from communities that practice FGM also graced the occasion and used the opportunity to denounce FGM.
Mary Senata, Woman Representative Kajiado County urged leaders to implement the available laws that deter FGM and help members of the public understand what they mean. Senata urged County governments to come up with more subsidiary laws to boost those already existing ones. For the fight against Female Genital Mutilation to bear fruits, elders must be involved. PHOTO: carolyne oyugi
Push for zero tolerance towards FGM By Carolyne Oyugi
F
emale genital mutilation is not only a violation of human rights but an issue of gender based violence. It comprises all procedures that involve partial or total removal of the external female genitalia, or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons. Kenya’s First Lady Margaret Kenyatta recently condemned FGM and called on all Kenyan communities to bring the retrogressive culture to an end, noting that it has no a place in the 21st Century. “As a country we must aspire to achieve a zero FGM status where every girl can go to school as well as find and fulfil her destiny, enjoying her rights and contributing to nation building,” said Mrs. Kenyatta, when she spoke at Entosopia sub-Location, Kajiado County where she presided over an alternative rite of passage for over 250 girls. She noted that Kenyan communities have rich and beautiful culture but there are some retrogressive aspects. She advised Kenyans to make
Fight against Female Genital Mutilation continues to meet many obstacles along the way. retain the good parts but discard the retrogressive parts,” urged Mrs. Kenyatta.
“Culture is dynamic. Let us retain the good parts but discard the retrogressive parts,”
H.E First Lady Margaret Kenyatta correct decisions on what cultural practice to follow and which to abandon. “Culture is dynamic. Let us
Addressing the same gathering, Lina Jebii Kilimo, Chairperson of the Anti-FGM Board noted that the act of cutting a woman’s genitalia is illegal under the law. In Kenya, The Children’s Act (2001) and the Prohibition of Female Genital Mutilation Act 2011 provide legal grounds in the fight against the vice.
“It is illegal to make a girl go through FGM and chiefs should read the Act and educate the public,” reiterated Kilimo. This exercise was carried out with support of African Medical Research Foundation Health Africa (AMREF). According to Dr Lenny Kyomuhangi, Amref Kenya Country Director: “More than 3,000 girls have passed
She pointed out that some government officials fear to implement the laws because they are part of the same communities which believe in the culture.
She noted that this has slowed down existing efforts to end the vice but hoped that with more focus things will move faster. “These beliefs are more about culture which people have lived and grown up with and so they shy away from denouncing it,” reiterated Senata.
“We do not need more laws; we just need to re-evaluate our strategies. I actually believe that FGM should be read together with torture as defined by UN Convention against Torture because that is what it is,” reiterated Tuya. However, she noted: “It does not justify use of force within the community or demonising the community.
“I am a Maasai woman, I love my culture but some parts of it like FGM and early marriage have been overtaken by events,” Tuya reiterated. She pointed out that FGM creates impediments to girl-child on education without which girls and women lose out on many opportunities.
“I am here to show women, girls and men of Kajiado that FGM has no place in our society. Without FGM women can go as high as they believe they can,” Tuya stressed. She added: “I have not undergone the rite but I have gone to school. I am a Member of Parliament and I am married to a Maasai man.” During the event, the girls who underwent the alternative rites of passage were blessed by cultural elders and ushered into womanhood without going through the cut. | AUGUST 2014 | VOLUME 2
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PROMOTING A SOCIETY FREE OF GENDER VIOLENCE
Culture promoting violence in Trans Nzoia County By Faith Muiruri
P
reliminary findings of an audit conducted by International Rescue Committee (IRC) in partnership with USAID reveals that defilement is the most common type of Sexual and Gender Based Violence in Trans Nzoia County. The audit preliminary findings, compiled by International Rescue Committee (IRC) in partnership with USAID reveals that defilement is the most common type of Sexual and Gender Based Violence in Trans Nzoia County. According to the report, the Kitale Gender Based Violence Recovery Centre (GVRC) receives up to three cases every day. Cases
“Out of every five cases of Sexual and Gender Based Violence cases, four are of defilement. Six out of 10 Sexual and Gender Based Violence cases are incest,” reads the report in part.
Although rape cases are many, young women do not report for fear of condemnation by society. Other types of GBV relatively common are teenage pregnancies, sexual assault, domestic violence and physical abuse at about two to three cases per day. This has largely been blamed on culture which is widely regarded as the
centre that holds and sustains violence because communities in the County are deeply rooted in traditions that do not hold perpetrators accountable.
The report reveals that during the Abaluhya male circumcision period, the young initiates are sanctioned by tradition to chase and rape women and girls; such an initiate is seen as a hero and is not punished even if he rapes a married woman. Culture
“Gender Based Violence is not regarded as a serious crime because it is highly prevalent and no sanctions are meted out culturally. People have learnt to accept GBV as part of community life,” notes the report.
Further women are not culturally accepted as leaders with the report alluding to the fact that violence starts when women flex their muscles. “Some rapes are planned to fix some people while female headed households are too engaged in long manual labour at the maize plantations thereby leaving their young children alone for long periods of time,” adds the report.
There is also the tendency of young boys and girls to leave the security of their homes at night to attend funeral discos which lead to defilement and rapes.
Perpetrators of sexual violence will not leave children to be children. Out of every five cases of Sexual and Gender Based Violence cases in Trans Nzoia County, four are of defilement. PHOTO: joseph mukubwa
The report at the same time points an accusing finger to motorcycle riders who have been pointed out as a special category as agents of defiling young girls. “Unfortunately, many parents trust them and use their services in taking their girls to and from school on a daily basis,” states the report. The report points out that the number of GBV cases reaching the courts has been growing steadily since 2012. Sexual assault
There are 150-250 GBV cases at any given time at Kitale law courts with defilement, rape, and sexual assault being the common types. However, the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions do not have
a presence in Trans Nzoia, hence prosecution standards are low. The family is the main decision making organ as regards to GBV court seeking behaviour.
“Where the survivor moves to court without family support, the case is frustrated through compromising the witnesses, disappearance of evidence and changing witness testimony,” notes the report. While GBV convictions have increased over the last three years, the suspects in police custody are routinely released and the matter settled out of court as perpetrators are willing to pay high prices to avoid the punitive Sexual Offences Act. Poverty levels among women and girls is higher and the extra money is readily accepted instead of justice.
Male involvement key in fight against FGM By Ben Oroko
T
hough progress has been made in the war against Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) Gusii region, in Nyanza Province remains an area where the war is not yet to be won. This will only happen when the men from the community change their negative attitude towards uncircumcised girls and women. Myths on the role that Female genital mutilation plays in the female reproductive system continues to leave many women and girls subjected to the vice.
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Among the Gusii, FGM it is said that the “cut reduces promiscuity among women and girls”. This thought gives perpetrators a free hand to subject them to the retrogressive practice.
Various state and non-state actors in the anti-FGM war are in agreement that engagement of men in the war against FGM will make fairly considerable gains if men, who are custodians of the community’s culture, are actively involved.
According to Mary Sally Otara, Kisii County Member of National Assembly, the community must change the negative attitude they have
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towards women who have not gone undergone the cut.
of their sexual and reproductive health rights.
She adds: “Men from Gusii community should be engaged in the war against the vice and sensitized that a girl need not be circumcised for her to make a good wife.”
Rioba challenged the community to refrain from forcefully subjecting girls to the cut under the guise of protecting their culture.
“Times have changed and anyone clinging to FGM misses the point as the practice is no longer treated as a rite of passage in Gusii society,” says Otara.
According to Otara, chiefs and their assistants must enforce the Prohibition of Female Genital Mutilation Act 2011 to facilitate the war against FGM and reassure girls
Echoing the same sentiments, Gucha Deputy County Commissioner, Mbogai Rioba has warned the community against subjecting their daughters to FGM.
He noted that despite the enactment of the Prohibition of FGM Act 2011, where offenders are fined up to KSh500, 000 or a seven year jail term, the practice continues unabated.
PROMOTING A SOCIETY FREE OF GENDER VIOLENCE
violence. Sections at stake include the definition of a domestic relationship in Section 4 and Section 11 where the numbers of people who can apply for a protection order under this Bill have been reduced. The latter sidelines key stakeholders such as the Director of Children’s Services, a Police Officer or a Social Welfare Officer, currently involved in child protection and national and county levels.” Challenge
The biggest challenge, therefore, is lack of education and awareness of what is in existence within the legal framework and how it can be used to deter gender based violence.
Kenyans demonstrate outside the Parliament over the prevalence of domestic violence across the country. PHOTO: awc correspondent
Culture and law at a crossroad in fight against GBV By Joyce Chimbi
W
hile various articles on domestic violence in Africa seem to relate freedom from violence and human rights in some international charters, and even in specific country Constitution, the rights-based arguments are yet to gain momentum in Africa. Rights based or human rights approach allows every human being to be recognised both as a person and as a right-holder. Before this approach, human agencies such as the United Nations (UN) were only concerned with basic needs that revolve around service delivery. Kenya, as is the case with many African countries has ratified at least four of the seven core international human rights treaties but they continue to record poor gender indexes. Approach
United Nations agencies have been instrumental in creating a synergy between human rights approach and development particularly since 2003 when UN development groups
established a common understanding of how human rights approach relates to initiatives to booster development across the globe.
In as far as the legal structures are concerned, many countries have structures in place to fight gender based violence. In Kenya, key legislations include the Constitution of Kenya 2010; Children’s Act 2001; Sexual Offences Ac 2006, Prohibition of Female Genital Mutilation Act 2011 and Penal Code among others.
The Constitution provides for the adoption of international law and best practices relating to GBV. The law has, therefore, provided for Constitutional GBV institutions charged with regulation and coordination of GBV affairs in the country. The Truth Justice and Reconciliation Act 2008 was created to look at gross violations of human rights, abuse of power and misuse of public office. Its objectives were to promote peace, justice, national unity, healing and reconciliation among the people of Kenya. In a structure where culture and the law complement each other, public health law should
precede a criminal law. Kenya already has in place a Public Health Act. Development
There is a new bill covering violence within homes. The Protection against Domestic Violence (PADV) Bill 2013 is expected to safeguard men, children and women from various forms of violence within homes.
A statement by the women’s movement on the bill reads in part: “The bill comes at a time when there are numerous reports from different counties of children who lost lives having been caught in crossfire between their parents’ battles. Likewise, spouses have been murdered or severely injured as a result of domestic wrangles. As such it is high time to pass into law this bill that will protect every member of the family.”
However, a few gaps have been raised with regards to the Bill in its current state, the statement continues: “informed by the Justice and Legal Affairs Committee report, the bill has omitted key sections that will curtail efforts of various state and non-state agencies towards prevention and response to domestic
Public health issues are not and cannot entirely be achieved through law. In relation to HIV, for instance, it is mostly spread through behaviour that is not criminal which makes it more of a public health issue rather than a criminal. Even when the behaviour is criminal, the victim might fear taking legal action because by doing so, they may expose their status which leaves them vulnerable to victimization. The legal framework, although extremely essential and powerful when socialized has major gaps in relation to fighting GBV.
The Sexual Offences Act, for instance, neither recognises that sexual abuses performed during a period of political chaos are genocidal or war crimes. This means that cases of this nature cannot be tried under this Act. The Sexual Offences Act recognises and criminalises gang rapes but not within the unique context of political upheaval. Women and girls suffered the blunt of sexual violence during the 2007 violence. This is in spite of the fact that a recent UN resolution recognizes Acts of violence as genocidal crimes. Although the Truth Justice and Reconciliation Act does not narrow down to sexual abuses, it does make two important provisions;
It recognises that sexual violence constitutes genocidal crimes, which legal experts say is critical and goes in line with the international thinking with regard to efforts towards eliminating violence against women.
It indicates that no amnesty shall be granted for all cases regarding sexual violence.
According to Fitnat N-A Adjetey, a Ghanaian Lawyer , “specific provisions of international human rights conventions might be used to accomplish piecemeal legal reforms”, | AUGUST 2014 | VOLUME 2
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PROMOTING A SOCIETY FREE OF GENDER VIOLENCE
Government urged act on post-election sexual violence are prosecuted,” reads a part of the document.
By Henry Kahara
S
ix years since the post-election violence of December 20007, those who experienced sexual and gender based violence are yet to get recourse. The hardest hit areas were North Rift and specifically Uasin Gishu County, the informal settlements of Nairobi, Kisumu, Kericho and most of Nyanza and Western Kenya.
In interviews with International Centre for Transitional Justice, many victims of rape doubted whether the police would act on their reports, or worse, some feared retaliation from police officers who might side with perpetrators because of their ethnicity. The report indicates that only a small fraction of victims of sexual violence reported the crime to the police or any other agency.
While some of the people who were displaced from their homes were given alternative land to settle on by the Government, the same treatment has not been accorded to those who suffered sexual and gender based violence.
The report further says that in Kenya rape and other sexual crimes are underreported due to lack of confidence that the police are willing and are able to investigate sexual crimes.
There are now calls that the Government should identify victims of Sexual Gender Based Violence (SGBV) as a priority group for distributing modest assistance and rehabilitation services.
The recommendation was given by International Centre for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) during the launch of their new study The Accountability Gap on Sexual Violence in Kenya: Reforms and Initiative Since the PostElection Crisis.
This man lies in the camp injured, he is one of the many survivors of post election violence. PHOTO: joyce chimbi
analyses the extent to which the response by the state of violence, have not provided any measure of justice for this victims.
Address
The study notes that the Kenyan government has not effectively addressed the harms suffered by victims of sexual crimes committed during the violence that followed Kenya’s disputed presidential elections in 2007. The International Centre for Transitional Justice wants the Government to give survivors of sexual and gender based violence services such as medical assistance including surgery for those with life threatening or debilitating conditions resulting from sexual violence, complemented by legal assistance for those needing government-issued identification to access such services.
During the crisis, thousands of women, children and men were sexually assaulted by goons, police officers and military personnel. The Gender Violence Recovery Centre at the Nairobi Women’s Hospital treated 443 survivors of sexual and gender based violence
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It’s very troubling that, six years on, not one person has been convicted of a sexual violence crime and the government has yet to redress the harms suffered by these victims,”
Amrita Kapur,
Senior Associate for ICTJ’s Gender Justice program. of which 80 percent were rape and defilement cases.
The study from International Centre for Transitional Justice,
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Head of International Centre for Transitional Justice Kenya office Christopher Gitari says: “The two main commissions formed to investigate post-election violence found that the Government failed to give due considerations to sexual violence before and during crisis.”
He notes: “The specific recommendations for remedies, which came directly from the commissions’ investigations have not translated into any real benefit for survivors or their families.” The report says that despite the vast documentation of the sexual and gender based violence, to date no individual has been convicted of a sex crime related to the post-election violence, nor have the victims been repaired for the harm they suffered. “It’s the Government’s responsibility to ensure that sexual and gender based violence perpetrators
The study’s findings are affirmed by a case now before the High Court in Nairobi (Petition Number 122 of 2013), in which eight victims of sexual and gender-based violence committed during the post-election violence charge that the Government failed to protect civilians and did not properly investigate reports of sexual crimes. Accountable
“It’s very troubling that six years on, not one person has been convicted of a sexual violence crime and the Government has yet to redress the harms suffered by these victims,” said Amrita Kapur, Senior Associate for International Centre for Transitional Justice’s Gender Justice programme. “The Government must continue to find credible and effective ways to create accountability and ensure that women and men are never targeted in this way again,” says Kapur.
The study makes recommendations to the Government that would help guarantee victims’ rights to a remedy, like ensuring that police vetting includes a focus on gender sensitivity. It also recommends that police training identifies sexual violence as a violation of a person’s right to bodily integrity, rather than an offence against honour. The study concludes that new measures like the Constitution of Kenya 2010, National Police Service Act 2011, Independent Policing Oversight Authority, and the National Police Service, if fully implemented, may help victims of sexual and gender based violence get justice.
PROMOTING A SOCIETY FREE OF GENDER VIOLENCE
Welfare of the Child and other related purposes.
The Children’s Act provides for the leadership in co-ordination, supervision and provision of services towards promoting the rights and welfare of all children in Kenya.
Christopher Wesonga, a social worker who has been rescuing children from the streets of Nairobi points out that violence at home has led to an increased number of street children. He notes that those who stay at home suffer psychological trauma. According to Wesonga: “It is easy to rescue the ones in the streets and take them to a children’s home but it is hard to rescue the ones at home because the parents hide the truth and neighbours fear reporting the matter.” Desperate state
A boy with whip marks allegedly inflicted by a step mother. New emerging statistics indicate that step children are GBV victims with step parents as perpetrators. Picture: AWC Correspondent
No longer safe at home Step children victims of emerging violence By Carolyne Oyugi
W
hen Ruth Adoyo got married six years ago, she thought she had been saved from miseries that defined her life. The first born child in a family of six, Adoyo always experienced hostility from her father and the situation forced her to escape from home several times to stay with her grandmother.
“My father would use any excuse to beat me up and I always assumed that it was because of his drunkardness,” explains Adoyo. However, she soon realised that he would still beat her even when he was sober. Beating me
“One day when I was in class six I delayed from school because I was sharing a book with a classmate. My father did not even ask me where I had been. He just started beating me until I fainted. All I can remember is that I woke up in a hospital,” Adoyo recalls. She would later discover that the man she called her dad was not
her biological father. Although her mother witnessed all this violence, she did not intervene because the man had married her despite having a child with another man and provided for them. Adoyo who now lives in Mukuru Kwa Reuben, sought solace, love and acceptance in all the wrong places and as a result got pregnant.
“The man responsible for my pregnancy rejected me and did not take the baby’s responsibility,” explains Adoyo. “So when I met another man who agreed to marry me with my two year old son, I was so happy.” However, things did not go as smoothly as she had anticipated. The man was affectionate at first but with time started to be violent. He accused her of aborting their child when she had actually had a miscarriage and violence became the order of the day in their household.
“As time went by, he started attacking my son whenever we had a disagreement,” says Adoyo, who is 27 years old. “He would do it secretly when I was not in the house then he started beating him up in my presence. When I tried talk against it he would beat me up too and threaten to send
us out of his house.”
Adoyo is reluctant to report the man to the authorities because he provides for them. She fears that she may not be married again with her two children. She once tried to go back to her mother but that did not help either. Her mother advised her to persevere and stick to her marriage. Child Killed
A new form of violence is emerging where step children are no longer safe with their adopted or step parents. There are many cases which have been reported of children who are abused at home by their step parents, the latest being that of a child killed by his step father in Kisii County for stealing a neighbour’s fruits. Despite there being laws to protect against child abuse and domestic violence the vice continues unabated.
The Children’s Act 2001 makes provision for parental responsibility, fostering, adoption, custody, maintenance, guardianship, care and protection of children. It also makes provision for the administration of children’s institutions; gives effect to the principles of the Convention of the Rights of the Child and the African Charter on the Rights and
A children’s officer based at the Children Services office in Nairobi thinks that it will not be possible to end violence against children without tackling gender based violence generally. He notes that this has been the missing link when coming up with laws to protect children. “When a mother is abused and she lives in a desperate state then she cannot protect her child,” says Wesonga.
Domestic and Family Violence Protection Act 2012 describes “domestic violence” as violence against that person, or threat of violence or of imminent danger to that person by any other person with whom that person is, or has been, in a domestic relationship. The Act further explains in subsection (2) (d), that a person psychologically abuses a child if that person- (a) Causes or allows the child to see or hear the physical, sexual, or psychological abuse of a person with whom the child has a domestic relationship; or (b) puts the child or allows the child to be put at real risk of seeing or hearing that abuse occurring. Relatives and neighbours are expected to make the application for protection order for the child who is being abused but many of them usually choose to keep quiet until things get out of hand.
Even with the laws in place many issues like causes of GBV must be tackled first. All those who are mandated to make application on behalf of abused children must also play their role because GBV leads to child abuse. | AUGUST 2014 | VOLUME 2
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PROMOTING A SOCIETY FREE OF GENDER VIOLENCE
Breaking the silence Council of Elders opens to tackling violence
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Never discussed
According to Joseph Tek, Secretary of the Kaburwo, as the Council of Elders is referred to locally, issues of gender based and sexual violence were never discussed openly.
“If these issues had to be discussed, women would do so in seclusion away from men, and the men would also hold their discussions without women being present,” he explains. Tek observes that Nandi Kaburwo now use knowledge gained from GBV and peace building trainings conducted under the Peace Initiative Kenya (PIK) project to address cases of GBV in the community. “PIK has been an eye opener to the
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“As a way of punishment, women would strip naked, cover their bodies with ash and then proceed to the home of a perpetrator where they would demand for a bull. This bull would be slaughtered, cooked and eaten by the women only. No man was allowed to eat the meat.” This was considered a ‘severe and embarrassing punishment’ to the perpetrator.
by Valine Moraa omen who have been violated by their husbands or male relatives are often left at the mercy of tradition and customs since Gender Based Violence (GBV) is traditionally part of the norm. However, through awareness creation things are slowly changing. For example in the Nandi community, the Council of Elders has realized that failing to openly discuss gender based and sexual violence has contributed to an increased number of failed marriages, sexual violations as well as sexually transmitted diseases including HIV infections.
with cases of sexual and gender based violence.
However, Sitienei explains: “If the crime was repeated by the same perpetrator, he would then be cursed by the Kaburwo.”
Joseph Tek a member of the Nandi Kaburwo in his office, Nandi County. PHOTO: valine moraa
Nandi Community. We no longer shy away from talking about defilement, rape or domestic violence during our meetings, but rather address the issues openly,” observes Tek. PIK project is supported by USAID and International Rescue Committee and works with various implementing partners.
The Nandi Council of Elders is today open to discuss and mitigate gender based and sexual violence in the community. They are working closely with Rural Women Peace Link (RWPL), an implementing partner of the PIK project in the Northern Rift Valley part of Kenya.
The Kaburwo were involved during the first phase of PIK when they took part in the project’s GBV trainings that led to the creation of Nandi County Peace Platform. Through the trainings, they were made to understand that they have a role to play towards ending sexual gender
| AUGUST 2014 | VOLUME 2
based violence.
The Kaburwo presides over cases that take place within the community. They are important because their verdicts are also recognised by the Kenyan law. The cases they handle range from petty crimes like domestic theft to serious ones such as witchcraft, incest, wife beating and robbery with violence. Change
According to Shaban Varajab, Programme Officer at the RWPL, the Nandi Kaburwo has been instrumental in bringing visibility to the PIK project as they have brought change to the community. “They have been active in peace building, women’s rights advocacy and creation of awareness towards ending GBV,” says Varajab. According to Salina Sitienei, the only female member of Kaburwo, the community had its own way of dealing
The Kaburwo would issue verbal warnings to a perpetrator twice. The first warning entailed a visit to the home of the perpetrator by a few members of the Kaburwo, where he would be interrogated in the presence of the parents and asked to apologize as well as compensate the victim. The second warning involved the perpetrator being brought to a Kaburwo meeting by the parents. He would then be interrogated in the presence of the rest of the community members, asked to apologize and compensate the affected family.
If the perpetrator failed to heed to these warnings or denied committing the crime while the Kaburwo are administering the second warning, this would lead to a curse being placed on him. Sitienei says a curse from Kaburwo is believed to have serious consequences. “A curse is a process that can take close to a month. During this period several meetings are held by the Kaburwo to investigate the crime. Once evidence is collected and the perpetrator is found guilty, he is then cursed,” Sitienei explains.