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THE CLAWS OF A RAPIST TELEVISION AND PRINT MEDIA INVESTIGATIVE DOCUMENTARY PREFACE

[This is an investigative television and print media documentary production that is aimed at highlighting on the numerous rape cases in Kenya which are normally perpetrated by “conditional and unconditional relationships.” There are a trending criminal actions and intentions that relate to rape cases in the whole country, more so in the Western region of Kenya. Most of these rape cases are instigated and done by the people who know each other. In fact, my background research has revealed that most of the rapists are those people who have some relationships with the people whom have been raped.

The trend of relationship rape crime and insecurity have been orchestrated by, among others, unnecessary trust on the persons who female leave closer to, the need for relationship revenge against the persons who are raped, proliferation of funny medical ideas which can be used to take away one’s rightful consent, organized crimes, high unemployment rate, drug and substance abuses, high illiteracy levels and sophistication of technology.

Many people, especially the vulnerable children and women who are in relationships have been going through the trauma caused by rapists, many of which have fatally ended their lives. Kenyan children and women have been living in great fear for their lives since rapists whom they actually know and are in relationships are actually hiding everywhere to ambush them any time.

There are a lot of rape cases that are very silent, and that is why they have to be investigated so that we can find a solution in terms of policy changes. Many people are raped within marriages or relationships and very few of these cases are known. Notwithstanding, there are also men who are raped by either women or their fellow men. Most of the men who are raped usually meet their predicaments in cults worships, attacks from their bosses and from women whose work is prostitution.]

THE CLAWS OF A RAPIST OBAR MARK INVESTIGATION ON RAPE CASES IN KENYA

CONTACTS OBAR MARK TEL: +254 728 762 356 E-mail: obarmark@yahoo.com WEBSITE: www.obarmark.distudio.com MULTIMEDIA UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF KENYA FACULTY OF MEDIA AND COMMUNICATION

THE CLAWS OF A RAPIST

RAPE CASES IN KENYA

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

CHAPTER 1 Understanding rape as a social problem and crime

CHAPTER 2 The pain of relationship rape in Kenya

CHAPTER 3 Kenyan Rape cases on Records Rape and Sexual Assaults Prevention

CHAPTER 1:: UNDERSTANDING RAPE AS CRIME

The Kenya’s Sexual Offences Act defines rape as the act of unlawfully and intentionally committing an act which causes penetration with his or her genital organ and once can be convicted for imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than five years but may be enhanced to imprisonment for life. I talked to a lawyer of The High Court in Kenya and Law Lecturer at Multimedia University, Mr. Gerald Majany who defined rape as “a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse which is initiated by one or more people against another person without the other person's consent.” It is important to know that the law distinguishes rape from defilement as, “Defilement is when a person intentionally commits rape or an indecent act with another, within the view of a family member, a child or a person with mental disabilities. If found guilty of the offence he/she is liable upon conviction to imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than ten years as prescribed by the Kenyan laws though there are adequate processes that must be followed when doing this.” The statistical analysis as discovered that every dawn, five children wake up defiled, three people end up dead and two women are raped, according to police statistics which have been on an increasing trend each year. Take for example in the year 2010, the police noted an increase in rape cases, most of which are relationships rapes.

It is little know to many people that rape is one of the worst ordeals that could ever happen to a woman or a girl child, especially when it is done by some one who they are in one way or the other related to. More unfortunately still, it is estimated that only 1 out of 20 women in Kenya will report a rape and only 1 in 6 will seek medical assistance. The background research that I conducted revealed that these figures could be much higher than those recorded by police since many victims shy away from reporting this form of violation. One is left to wonder is it the level of awareness that now cases are being reported or is it that the rapists have come in full thrust. If anyone cares just stop and think it could be your sister, mother, daughter or anyone close to you. There is a need to consolidate efforts in fighting these heinous acts and it can be done, it is within our power and means to make it happen.

It should be better understood that sexual violence is one of the greatest impediments to attaining meaningful social development in our society especially among women. It has been described by the United Nations Platform of Action as an obstacle to the achievement of the objective of equality, development and peace in the society, and it is no doubt that relationship rapes have been biting the country in silence. The relationship rapes have taken on young people who are being sexually abused in homes and schools where they live with the people whom they know and familiar with. I think that it is an important thing to here the other side of the story from the alleged rapists since this will bring the reality of sexual violence in a glaring spectrum which should be used to bring down the problem that is escalating at a very high speed.

Stating Analysis of Rape as a Social Problem:

when in the verge of condition research on the relationship rape cases in Bungoma County which was actually similar to what happens in the whole country, it was very evident that there is inadequate and less effective system to investigate allegations of sexual violence and rape in Kenya, that is reflected in the procedure that a woman victim must go through in order to bring her case to court after being sexually assaulted. The women who become victims of relationship rape cases face obstructions in the criminal justice system in Kenya and in the lack of facilities for gathering essential medical evidence, and most cases are never heard in court due to non-effective involvements in their rape cases. The Kenya’s legal system is requiring that for an investigation to be initiated on any rape cases, a woman or a man victim (never rule out the possibility of men being raped) has to report the crime to the police so that it can be followed up. Remember the statement regarding the alleged abuse should be recorded in the Occurrence Book held in each police station where anything can happen, more so after arrests have been done. It is a worrying thing because the majority of police officers are not trained in gender issues or how to handle cases of domestic violence, especially marital rape which are very traumatizing.

There are also some police officers who view relationship rapes as normal things which happen in relationships and people should not make them serious things as such. Of course this idea is also very evident among very many people whom I interviewed during my preliminary researches. There are very many police officers regard violence within the home as a domestic matter, and enforce and uphold discriminatory attitudes against women who tend to seek help from them in the process of seeking justice. It is alleged that in August 2001 the Kiambu Divisional Police Chief, Mr Njue Ngagi, reportedly freed a church leader who was arrested on suspicion of the crime of defilement of a six-year-old girl, because it was perceived that he was a ''married man with children and, therefore, incapable of committing such an offence against any other child.

There are a lot of embarrassing situations which do face the women who seek police intervention in relationship rapes, and some of the painful experiences that they meet include ridicule, verbally abused and made to feel as if they are wasting police time. During my research, women said that they were reluctant to approach the police and had only reported their case when the violence had become so extreme that they needed intervention to protect their lives. In fact, most of the police officers are known for calling people by the names of the cases which they have reported or are alleged on them. This makes people who are undergoing trauma to feel too much pain that they would opt for abandoning the case.

Every details about relationship rapes are never unearthed proper since there are remarkable fears among local women's activists and victims that the offence of rape is subject to less vigorous police investigation than other crimes and, therefore, that victims are less inclined to report such crimes to the police. This may mean that the agitators are worse challenged that the alleged rapists.

There very many people who have been sent away by the police for not having the necessary documents for anchor the reports, by the way, before reporting the offence to the police, a woman victim must obtain a Medical Examination Report that is popularly known as a P3 form from the police station before she can be examined by a doctor. The P3 form is a document that is used by victims to detail acts of torture and ill-treatment committed against them. The form is divided into two sections, to be filled in by the police and a doctor. The police complete the first section of the form, which requires them to ask a doctor to examine the victim for evidence of a crime, and then escort the victim to the doctor to be examined. The second section of the form is used by the doctor to record any injuries. When you carefully examine this operation, it may require a number of trips to the doctor if the victim cannot be examined straight away, and this means that a lot of time must be wasted thereby making the evidence to be dilute and can never stand the test of malice from interested parties. This is how many relationship rape cases have been through out of courts for lack of adequate evidence to support the case.

At the same time, there are insurmountable difficulties just to procure the P3 form from the police station since many officer are every busy and with the high rate of corruption prevalence among Kenyan police officer things can be worse. The P3 form should be given for free; however, I confirmed that Western Kenya Human Rights Watch, a Kenyan human rights organization, told Amnesty International that to get a P3 form you have to bribe the police with about KSH. 100. The information I got from Western Kenya is that the organization usually accompanies the person they are assisting to the police station to ensure they received the form and do not have to pay for it. Also, the P3 forms are only to be obtained in police stations as they are used by the police as part of their criminal investigation. There are however remarkable changes in the Police Force since people can now get the form online without a lot of struggles with the officers at the station.

There are also cases when victims have actively been discouraged due to psychological torture and ill-treatment from requesting a form and few have come forward to have their injuries recorded for the purposes of a prosecution. There are also some cases in which abuses have been committed by the police themselves and the women have feared trying to obtain a form, especially if the abuse took place at the station where they had to apply for the form. It is within records when victims of police torture have been threatened by police officers when they tried to make a statement about them. Honestly, for victims such a process can be harrowing and traumatic.

One rape victim described her ordeal of reporting the rape to the police and having a medical examination by a doctor: ''After I had been taken to a private doctor, he told me not to wash as I would have to report to the police doctor. Since it was 2 AM in the morning, this meant that my report would have to be filed on the next day. I could not believe that I would have to sleep with the smell of those men on me... When I went to report to the police doctor, I found a long line with all sorts of people. The nurse assisting him gave me two glass slides and told me to stick my fingers up myself and wipe the semen onto the glass slide. I could not believe what she was saying to me, they were asking me to re-enact the rape.''

The women in Kenya make up the highest percentage of the poor as very many cannot pay to bring a case to court. The cost of hiring an advocate is prohibitively high for them that they find it hard to manage their own affairs. Therefore, most of the women victims are normally assisted by the FIDA Kenya though this may mean that their rape cases are going to be in the public domain and this is another level of trauma. It is something that is very evident that when women seeks help from any local organization or report the incident to the police, one Kenyan women's organization told Amnesty International, they ''will receive threats from their husband's family in order to drop the case. In fact, there are very many cases which have been dropped due to family threats. Of course, such a woman might never be considered married in that family any longer. Many women would rather protect their families at all cost and will suffer long term abuse and will only come to seek justice when they fear for the children’s lives.

Kenya has got very few avenues which offer redress for women victims in the event of relationship rape cases and this problem starts with the government that is ill-equipped to provide services to these women when they are most urgently needed. For women who have been victims of sexual violence, there is no governmental housing to ensure their safety as they undergo through such a serious trauma. They are normally left to go back to the same homes where they had been raped and the trend may continue with all manner of humiliations. There are few opportunities open to women who do not want to return to an abusive household or places that provide protection to women and children who have suffered domestic violence.

There are small number of women's organizations have established centres which provide counseling or therapy, but they have resources only to offer temporary protection. A few shelters are now being established. For example, the Nairobi's Women Hospital offers psychological services for victims of rape and domestic violence, and the shelter established by the Women's Rights Awareness Programme (WRAP) now accommodates approximately 60 women and children. This shelter provides counseling, medical and psychiatric services, legal aid and assistance, though women can only stay there on a short-term basis.

CHAPTER 2:

THE PAIN OF RELATIONSHIP RAPE IN KENYA

As a Journalist, am always cautioned by my professional ethics and personal integrity to make some statement that can save a situation and not just express myself for the sake of it. It may sound incredible that there are very many people who do not believe that there can be relationship rape. To them, such can be referred to as forceful sex practices and not necessarily rape. When I started doing my research, I started by trying to understand various communities where cases of rape dominated and to my surprise such things like relationship rapes are not there in their setups. In fact, they may only refer to such as part of marital or relationship issues. They expect a woman to provide sex whenever the man is ready for it without questioning or even giving suggestions. This simply means that it is the man to dictate when sex is practiced and when it should not be practiced. So funny, isn’t it? I talked to a person who said that, “a lady can’t visit me in my house for a date then refuses to have sex with me. So, what really brought her….my money? In that case, I would force her into it or even beat her if she refuses.”

The research study had revealed disturbing figures showing that at least 14% of married women said their current husband or partner had forced them to have sex in the past year, while another 37% had been subjected to sexual violence at some point in their relationship. There are also very many Journalists who still do not think that there is anything like relationship rapes in the world, and this is the reason as to why many of such cases are normally concealed and people are not well educated about them.

In countries like Tanzania, Synovate research which was conducted during the 2010 Tanzanian elections found that media there gave minimal coverage to rural women who were complaining of being coerced by their husbands, sometimes under threat and violence in a number of ways including to vote for particular parties or candidates. The media did not see this as a serious issue. Women’s voices were not sought on this or other election issues, and this is the same predicament that befalls many women even in relationships. Consumers of media should be wondering why editors and journalists are not interested in these stories of gender-based violence. This is seriously worrying because media is normally quite good at putting a spotlight on wrongdoers and shaming perpetrators, be they politicians, criminals or celebrities. It seems that Journalists are breaking one of the cardinal rules of journalism and allowing personal feelings and behaviour to impact their reporting.

Probably, you can agree that when articles about domestic violence and rape do appear in the news, they are more often about the rape or abuse of elderly women and children, and most likely, you have hardly heard of gender rape cases among the people who are in a relationship like marriage or courtship. Similarly, when a woman is killed or battered by her husband, the story is framed as a love triangle gone wrong. Rarely do reporters dig deeper to investigate causes or patterns of violence, linking them to poverty levels, lack of human rights protections (or knowledge of them), or legal systems that take forever to hear and pass verdict on cases of gender-based violence.

It is not a common thing for Journalists who do media reports on the massive cost of gender-based violence in terms of treatment of injuries and sexually-transmitted disease, not to mention missed work hours. What about the invisible but extensive cost to our society when this cycle of violence is passed down from absent abusive fathers to their children. In the mindset of many in the media, gender-based violence that relate to relationship rapes is not an issue worthy of paper and ink or is too shaming that should not be published nor be broadcast. The issues that are seen as obstacles to transparent broadcast of relationship rapes are not the problem; it is the Journalists who harbour negative attitudes towards these stories. And by not reporting on these stories, the media becomes part of the problem, almost as culpable as the perpetrators of violence.

Understanding types of  sexual assaults

Acquaintance rape; Date rape

Many people are not aware of relationship rapes because they tend to assume that there can never be anything like that. Date rape, also called acquaintance rape is committed by someone who knows the victim. This constitutes the vast majority of rapes reported. It can occur between two people who know one another usually in social situations, between people who are dating as a couple and have may had consensual sex in the past or between two people who are starting to date, between people who are just friends, and between acquaintances. They include rapes of co-workers, schoolmates, friends, and other acquaintances. People should be very much careful with even the people who are close to them as relatives or even close since those are the people who can conduct such a dreadful activity.

Spousal rape;

This is basically marital rape where a wife rape, husband rape, partner rape or intimate partner sexual assault (IPSA), is rape between a married or de facto couple. This one of the most common types of rape yet the least known kind of rape, and the reasons as to why they are least known have been discussed in the previous topics.

Gang rape;

This is also known as mass rape, occurs when a group of people participate in the rape of a single victim. Rape involving at least two or more perpetrators is widely reported to occur in many parts of the world.

Rape of children;

Rape of a child is a form of child sexual abuse. When committed by a parent or other close relatives such as grandparents, aunts and uncles, it is a form of incest and when committed by another child (usually older or stronger), it is a form of child-on-child sexual abuse. When a child is raped by a family member, especially a parent, it can result in serious and long-term psychological trauma. When a child is raped by an adult who is not a family member but it a caregiver or in a position of authority over the child, such as school teachers, religious authorities, or therapists, to name a few, on whom the child is dependent, the effects can be similar to incest rape.

War rape;

During war, rape is often used as means of psychological warfare in order to humiliate the enemy and undermine their morale. Rapes in war are often systematic and thorough, and military leaders may actually encourage their soldiers to rape civilians. Likewise, systematic rapes are often employed as a form of ethnic cleansing.

Common effects of rape;

Vaginal bleeding or infection

Decreased sexual desire

Genital irritation

Pain during intercourse

Chronic pelvic pain

Urinary tract infections

Pregnancy- Pregnancy may result from rape.

Sexually Transmitted Diseases-Violent or forced sex can increase the risk of transmitting HIV.

Being a victim of sexual violence and being susceptible to HIV share a number of risk behaviors.

Forced sex in childhood or adolescence, for instance, increases the likelihood of engaging in unprotected sex, having multiple partners, participating in sex work, and substance abuse.

People who experience forced sex in intimate relationships often find it difficult to negotiate condom use either because using a condom could be interpreted as mistrust of their partners or as an admission of promiscuity, or else because they fear experiencing violence from their partners.

Sexual coercion among adolescents and adults is also associated with low self-esteem and depression factors that are associated with many of the risk behaviors for HIV infection.

Psychological effects of rape;

The is normally a serious Trauma Syndrome that do engulf the people who have gone through the pain of being raped, more so when the victim is aware of the rape suspect- A cluster of symptoms which sexual assault victims describe, defined as “rape trauma syndrome.”

Normally, the people who have been raped have got what is psychologically referred to as Self blame and shame- Two main types of self blame based on actions and on character.

Suicidal thoughts- As a matter of fact, Childhood and adulthood victims of rape are more likely to attempt or commit suicide. In fact, there are some cases when the victims of raped have taken away their lives because of the pain that they have to go through. There are some cases when a husband or a boyfriend of the person who has been raped can decide to run away from the relationship. This will bring a lot of pains and self blames which can eventually lead to serious trauma to the point that one can decide to take away her life.

Victim blaming – This is to hold the victim of a crime to be responsible for that crime, either in whole or in part. In the context of rape, it refers to the attitude that certain victim behaviors (such as flirting or wearing sexually provocative clothing) may have encouraged the assault. In extreme cases, victims are said to have "asked for it" simply by not behaving demurely.

CHAPTER 3

Kenyan Rape cases on Records

It is important for the reader to understand that am not the one who came up with statistical analysis but these figures have been obtained from Non-governmental Organizations and other security agencies, and all of them have been clearly outlined and highlighted within this research.

It was pain, anguish and ugly degeneracy as nothing in the history of Kenya prepared the local forensic community for the mass fatalities that were witnessed in the Post Election Violence of 2007.Much in the history of mass rape events however prepared the world’s forensic community for the task of identifying those who perpetrated mass rapes following Kenya’s post election violence between Dec 2007 and Feb 2008. This was also very evident according to the police reports that were collected after the mayhem. The International Criminal Court, ICC’s prosecutorial department also presented accusations against six Kenyan suspects over the violence. Some of the charges against the suspects involved rape, especially war or gang rapes.

The Kenya Police Force statistics on the incidence of rape reported to the police indicate that 1,291 cases were reported in 2006 and 876 in 2007 nationally. These trends of heartless atrocities have been on increase among women and children. Statements that I received from the police state that, “Following the tumultuous incidents in various parts of the country, Kenya Police has embarked on thorough investigations to identify all those who committed crimes of murder, arson, looting, preparation to commit a felony by carrying dangerous weapons etc. We therefore wish to inform the public of the progress made so far in respect of Rift Valley Province. 191 suspects have been taken to court and 77 case files are to be forwarded to the AG for advice. There are ten cases pending arrest of known accused persons. As the situation returns to normal, Kenya Police is urging the public to keep peace and endeavor to promote good order wherever they are. The public is urged to avoid all situations that put to risk the normalcy achieved so far. KENYA Police is once again assuring the public that we shall continue vigorously executing our mandate to maintain law and order.” When I keenly investigated the statically analyzed cases of the rape that took place during the post poll violence, it should be clear that most of these cases have never been conclusively dealt with regards to forensic investigations and subsequent prosecution• Victims of rape tended to be women of all ages ranging from 9 month old to 105 years of age. On the 30th April 2008, CSI Nairobi estimates that in Nairobi and its environs alone, over 1,400 women and children have been raped. This is higher than the 1,291 cases reported country wide in 2006 and almost double that reported country wide in 2007. In the year 2010 and 2011, rape cases tremendously increase in the western part of Kenya and this trend has been worrying woman and children who live such regions. I spent around four moths trying to understand the reason as to why Western Kenya had for a long time become a habour for very many rapists. To put my facts right, I visited Bungoma Court for four days in a week and the number of defilement cases were largely worrying and bemusing to me.

The alarming trend can be explained by the high rate of recidivism in the crime of rape. Once a rapist’s believes he can get away with the crime he will continue raping until he is caught (therefore becoming a Serial Rapist). During the post election violence, CSI Nairobi estimated that 1,700 men took part in raping an estimated 600 women in Nairobi alone, the majority in gang rapes involving not less than 3 men. We can therefore extrapolate that there are approximately over 1,700 serial rapists prowling the streets of Nairobi Kenya. Most rapes (over 73%) in March 2008 and at least 47% of those in April 2008 can be attributed to these serial rapists. CSI Nairobi using Bode Technology of the United States is profiling about half of all these cases.

Rape cases among women were more likely to be perpetrated by men unknown to them. Thus among women who said they were raped during the post election violence 40%were raped by unknown men as opposed to 20% who were raped by relatives or men who were intimate with the victims. Among those rapes reported to the police a higher proportion (60%) were said to have been committed by strangers. The Police found that most rapes were carried out by multiple perpetrators. In most cases, women were raped with the threat of physical injury, and often with the use of knives or at gunpoint. Almost half of all rapes occurred inside the homes of victims. Data available to CSI Nairobi indicates that the current rapes (April 2008) are being perpetrated by persons known to the rape survivor (53%). If this trend is unchecked, Kenya will only be second to South Africa in incidences of rape.

Findings from the rape analysis undertaken by CSI Nairobi show that, most of rapes occurred more frequently than the average on Saturdays (23.7% of all reported cases), particularly between 19h00and01h00. In-house studies confirm the finding that approximately a quarter of all who experienced rape reported the incident to the police.

Tips on how to avoid rape and rapists

For those people who are living in high risk areas, women should think of inserting the latex condom like a tampon. These are however desperate measures for dealing with rape cases among people in the community. Jagged rows of teeth-like hooks line its inside and attach on a man’s penis during penetration and when this is done, only a doctor can remove it. South Africa is known to have among the highest rates of rape cases in Africa and as Dr. Ehlers explains, its been over 40 years trying to come up with a solution since a 20 year old woman was raped and brought to her for attendance and she kept saying “I wish I had teeth down there”.

While this will considerately reduce the cases of rape, I cant help but wonder how much more risk the lives of the rape victims will be when the ruthless rapist gets clinched, they could do anything, including kill the woman.

In Kenya, Nairobi Women Hospital caters for rape victims and other victims of abuse and hopefully they should be able to get supplies of these for distribution as part of their prevention measures.

These will also be very useful when you are going clubbing in areas you do not trust or for people who drink and loose control of their actions and eventually end up getting date rapped.

Avoid using the same route every time,

Leave or come earlier than was expected,

Think quickly and try to outsmart the aggressor,

Behave assertively,

Try not to walk alone, especially at night,

Walk in groups,

Don’t let anyone look at you or touch you in a way that makes you feel uncomfortable,

Scream or pretend not to know the aggressor,

Tell a trusted person.

If you have a telephone, keep the telephone number of the police or family friend within easy reach. Always make sure that your parents or guardians know where you are going and when you are expected to come home.

If someone attempts to sexually assault or rape you;

Use your fingers and fingernails. Stab them as hard as you can into the attacker’s eyes. Use your knee to give a hard kick to the attacker’s lower abdomen and private parts. If you kick hard enough, this will hurt him a lot, causing him to double over in pain. If the person is on top of you, holding your face down on the ground, use your heel to kick him in the bones of the lower back, just at the top of the buttocks. If you are being overpowered, relax and try to fool the attacker into carelessness. Then stab the eyes or kick him in the groin. Run away when the rapist pauses and is in pain.

What should you do if you have been raped;

The first thing to do is to call a trusted friend or family member for supports then report it to the police. Rape is a crime, and as difficult as it may be, you will need to give the details about the rape to the police. You should then go to the hospital where you can be tested for HIV and other sexually transmitted infections, get treated and receive counseling.

Kenyans Role over Rape Cases

The attention of the Kenya Police has been drawn to reports carried in a section of the press castigating the police for shoddy investigations and insensitivity on handling rape cases. A report that was posted on a website popularly known as “Trinity Afer” accused the police of raping even refugees. The post indicated that, “Police were on Monday, Monday, August 15 2011 at 22:00 accused of human rights violations including gang raping and extorting money from refugees. The report also accused the Kenyan government of also providing military assistance to militias supporting Somali’s transitional government (TFG) without acting to ensure accountability for abuses by their troops or by the militias they support. The Human Rights Watch report, “You don’t know who to blame: War Crimes in Somalia”, reports extensively on human rights violations by the Kenya Police on the Somali asylum seekers and refugees face as they try enter into the country.” Considering my endeavors to dig deep into the underlying facts about rape cases in Kenya and with regards to the investigative approaches and weight thrown behind them, it is important to clarify here that the Kenya Police is committed to the fight against rape and defilement. There should be no doubt about this in any body’s mind and it is our obligation to protect the citizens of this country from perpetrators of this heinous crime.

While in the verge of helping such a situation, the Kenya Police has put in place a gender and children’s desk at the Police Headquarters to handle rape related issues, defilement and other assaults on the vulnerable group of our society that is women and children. Through this office, child protection centers have been established in various parts of the country – in Nyanza, Western, Rift Valley and Nairobi. The Spider squad which was established to deal with rape cases is still operational and its successes cannot be over emphasized. The Police Department has inculcated Gender and Children issues into its training curriculum at the Police Training College. This has been made possible in collaboration with NGO specializing in women and children issues.

When addressing the country over the serious allegations and on how to eradicate rape among people, the Police made it clear that, “our officers have been trained on how to handle victims of rape in a descent and confidential manner. This is the reason why we have witnessed an increase in the reportage of such case because the public now have confidence that they will be assisted once they report. Therefore allegations about insensitive officers at the police station gleefully demanding a replay of the events are false and far fetched. Those making such allegations are living in the yester-years and have no touch with the reality on the ground. It is important to note that the Gender Desks are manned by female police officers who have been specially trained in this area.”

According to GBVRC Executive Director Teresa Omondi said 143 gang rape cases had been recorded between April 2009 and March 2010, and most of these rape cases were relationship rapes. This compares to 56 cases that had been recorded between April 2008 and March 2009. She said the size of the gang had also increased with the largest reported gang comprising 20 men, up from 11.“This form of violation does not have shame for age. We’ve had cases as old as an 80-year-old woman gang raped by 10 men; our youngest case being a one-month-old baby girl who was defiled by her father and the oldest being a 105 year old woman raped by a 24-year-old man,” she said. The attacks mostly occur in public places like the Nairobi city centre, and recreational facilities like Arboretum and Uhuru Park. Ms Omondi said the increase in the number of attacks was hampering HIV/AIDS prevention measures and also questioning the moral values of the Kenyan society. “When you have a survivor saying she was raped by 20 men, then that alone tells you that our efforts of fighting HIV are just losing battles because in most of these cases no protection is used. If the victim was living with AIDS what does that translate to?” she quipped.

The GBVRC Executive Director revealed that attacks in Nairobi streets occurred mostly in the upper parts of the Central Business District. “These attacks do not just happen in streets that you would imagine such as Luthuli or some other hidden street. We even have cases in places like Loita Street probably due to the number of entertainment spots in the area. Attacks in recreational parks such as Uhuru Park and the Arboretum are also worrying representing 21 percent of the number of attacks received by the center,” she said.

Nairobi Women’s Hospital Group Chief Executive Officer Sam Thenya said the hospital would by the end of the year open two more branches in Ongata Rongai and Mombasa with a view of spreading its services.“There are other cases of GBV cases in places far from Nairobi but with the new hospitals and GBVRC centers more patients will receive adequate healthcare. We also plan to have our footprints in Eastern African countries by 2015,” he said. Of the 2,487 survivors of gender based violence, 85 percent were rape and defilement cases while 15 percent were domestic violence cases. 47 percent were women, 45 percent were girls, and five percent were boys while three percent were men. In addition 1,403 survivors of GBV reported that that the offenders were known to them while 1,084 said their attackers were unknown.

CONTROL MEASURES:

What Should be done in the event of rape It is very crucial that a victim of sexual violence reports to the nearest health facility right away or soonest possible. In many cases the victims of [tag-tec]rape[/tag-tec] may require help to get to the hospital as this is a most traumatizing experience and also depending of the severity of associated physical injuries.

Victims should not do the following;

The first thing a victim of sexual violence and specially rape will be prone to do is bath as they feel dirty and unwanted. This tends to wash away the vital proof such as the assailant semen or other fluids than would tie the assailant to the crime.

The evidences to be collected are of two types;

There is the proof to confirm that sexual assault happened and that connecting the suspected assaulter to the [tag-tec]rape[/tag-tec]. Many are times when such helpless women present their problem to the police and the case is dismissed on grounds of lacking enough evidence.

Assessment at the hospital;

The very first step would normally be gathering the information about the victim, where all physical harm is documented so it can be presented to the police authorities to haunt the rapist.

Assessment linked to HIV infection;

We all know that for one to catch the Aids virus they must have come in to contact with blood, semen of an infected person, and this is why a doctor will always collect these as specimen.

High vaginal swab- this should be taken using the right method to avoid additional injury to the victim and also that negligence will lead to incorrect results. The key issue is to check the spermatozoa which are preserved permanently in the laboratory for proof later during the case in court. Anal or oral swab- they are important when there is record of alleged penetration if these areas. If there are signs of ejaculation or other fluids around the victim’s perineum, these should be swabbed and taken to the lab.

Note: absence of spermatozoa in these parts does not mean that penetration did not take place, the assailant could have used a condom, lack of ejaculation or perhaps the woman who is a victim uses douches. It could also be due to poor collection of evidence, that is the specimen or even the victim delayed in seeking treatment.

HIV Testing;

The first thing to happen is for the doctors to take steps to counsel the traumatized girl or woman or even the sodomized man. I believe this would not be done the same day because it obviously takes sometime before the HIV virus can be detected in the blood. Normally the doctors use the blood sample from a person finger to determine if they have the virus or not. If the test is confirmed positive then the next step would be client counseling.

Client counseling;

Obviously it would not be an easy task to convince such persons who contracted HIV from such a cruel act, some much more knowledgeable and trained expert should set the ball rolling in privacy. Trauma counseling is a priority for victims of sexual violence irrespective of the level of the assault since it is a means of helping them deal with post [tag-tec]rape[/tag-tec] trauma.

HIV pre and post test counseling must follow the recommended HIV testing guidelines by the ministry of health in many countries. For those victims of rape who may not find strength to go for a HIV test, options such as safe intercourse should be discussed until follow up testing proves them otherwise, since the assumption is that they may be positive.

Counseling special cases applies where the victim is a child in which case counseling to the parents and guardians is also ensured to enable the child be sober and relaxed.

HIV prevention;

The risk of transmission in rape is thought to be high due to persuasive penetration, lack of lubrication resulting in inflammation, fresh tearing and bruises to the genitals. For your little girl, this would hurt because their bodies are not mature in terms of size and also more mental torture because they do not know much about sex. They should thus be given antiretroviral drugs until proven negative because the assailant is believed to be HIV positive.

Though, the testing should be done within seventy two hours since the action of violation, the administration of these drugs should not be stopped. For those who are indeed proven positive, a more comprehensive HIV care is recommended because as we all know, this infection has no cure so far. By all means, visits to the doctor will now become a must do because today victims of Aids can live as long as twenty years approximately.

With the research above we can conclude that rape is inhuman and it should be cut out from its roots. We need to be God fearing and ensure that our sisters and brothers are safe out there.

Bibliography: www.kenyapolice.com www.obarmark.dinstudio.com

PEV Rape Victims Tell Their Painful Experiences to CIPEV The Pain of Rape in Kenya Researched and Examined by OBAR MARK

Rape Victim 1;

“…..After my husband was cut, but before he died, one of the men came towards me and asked me what I wanted to be done to me. I asked them not to kill me. One said we need to know what she is like, now that she never talks to us. There was another group of men who were looting my shop. I could see them from the door it was still open. They were going past carrying property from my shop, such as sugar, cooking fat and other goods.

I was wearing trousers with buttons at the waist. The men tore at my trousers trying to get them open and the buttons came off. There were about four of them there doing this to me at that time. They lifted me up and put me on the ground. They were arguing among themselves who was going to be first. Then one said that if I escaped from the knife and arrows, I would die of AIDS. Some of them held my legs and some held my hands while they raped me. When this was happening my husband and I were still both in the sitting room, but by now I was not watching mu husband but pleading my own case. The last time I had looked, it was like he was dead. He wasn’t moving.

One man raped me and then the second one and the third. They put their penises in my vagina. It was either the second or the third man who said they were not able to get in me properly so they cut me. I think it was the panga they were carrying that they used. They cut my vagina. When I had my children, the doctor told me I had a narrow opening. Both my children were born by caesarean.

They continued raping me. It was when the fourth man was raping me that I was unconscious. I next remember and it is vague that a Kalenjin friend of ours called Joseph was there and he was pleading with the men. He was asking them for him to be allowed to take the body of my husband and take me to hospital. The men started quarreling with him and told him that he was in partnership with us. They threatened to kill him….”

Rape Victim 2;

“I went to my house. The GSU followed me and said they were looking for young men who were involved in the violence. They we three GSU men who got into my house. I had not locked my house and when they came in I did not bother to lock because they were security men who were supposed to care for us. One of the GSU officer stood at the door, the other two got in. They told me they were going door to door looking for the young men who were involved in the violence. I told them that they would check since I was not hiding anyone. I told them that I was alone. By the time I was alone. They told me that we, women, were the ones encouraging the young man because we were preparing food for the “Mungiki”. They were using Swahili language. I insisted I was alone and have never seen “Mungiki”. They told me that if they could not find “Mungiki” at least I was available. I asked them “what I have done.” One GSU grabbed me and said, “we can’t leave you alone.” He then threw me on the bed and hit me on the face. He tore my inner pants and then raped me. Then the second one raped me…”