Advertisement
Sexual violence still a major urban threat
Source:
(IRIN)
Reporter:
X IRIN
Location:
Nairobi, Kenya
Published:
October 26, 2011 11:58 am EDT
Topics:
Health, Disease, AIDS, Crime, Law And Justice, Crime, Sexual Assault
Reports of gender-based violence are on the rise in Kenya's cities, and experts say the police must improve their handling of cases of sexual assault to build public trust in the security and justice systems.
According to police sources, some 3,200 cases of gender-based violence were reported to the police countrywide in 2010, up from 2,800 in 2009.
"Sexual violence is not just a risky issue in terms of one getting infected with HIV or any other sexually transmitted infection, [but] victims normally feel ashamed - we live in a society where the victim is blamed and hence many would rather not report it either to the police or even to their families," said Olga Masinde, a psychology lecturer at the University of Nairobi.
At Nairobi's City Park Market, where she sells tea to hawkers, Njoki* treats the men she meets with caution. In April 2011, she was lured into a quiet area by a man who told her he wanted to buy tea but instead sexually molested her.
"He was a handcart puller; I knew him. He told me he wanted tea and I took it to him in an adjacent thicket," Njoki told IRIN/PlusNews. "He didn't buy the tea. He grabbed me and wrestled me to the ground. He then raped me and he said he would kill me if I said anything. I still see him."
Njoki only told one close friend about the attack; she feared that if she told the police and other traders she would be blamed for following the man into the thicket.
"I didn't want to go to the police because I couldn't answer the many questions and I feared if other people knew, they would start saying, ‘why did you follow the man to the thicket?' I just kept quiet," she added.
Awareness-building
While there have been calls to sensitize women on the need to report cases of sexual violence, Masinde says the sensitization should be directed at both the public and the police.
"Sensitizing women to report when they are raped is the easier part, but when you look at the reasons people give for not reporting, you realize more effort should be directed at sensitizing the wider community and the police on the need to accept that women are victims and not contributors to sexual violence," she added.
The Kenya police has faced criticism from gender activists for its alleged failure to act on reported sexual violence; a 2009 study by Kenya's Institute of Economic Affairs reported that 72.6 percent of 51 respondents who survived gender violence and reported their cases to the police were not satisfied with the services they received.
Afraid of the dark
Emily Mueni, 24, works in a bar in downtown Nairobi, and often finishes work after midnight. With no staff transportation available, she has to walk to the nearest bus stop and wait, often alone, for a matatu - a public transportation minibus. "If you are not attacked in the city, you can be attacked even in the residential areas," she said. "It has never happened to me - even if it happened, I can't report it because the police will say I am a prostitute... all they ask is what you were doing out at that time."
A 2010 study of women's experiences in Nairobi's slums by Amnesty International found that authorities had not addressed women's calls for a greater police presence in the slums. The report found that many women were too afraid to visit toilets and bathrooms after dark.
"When police have come into the slums, rather than protect women, they have represented yet another threat to their security," the authors reported. "Police officers themselves have been accused of raping women in slums, in particular during the post-election violence."
But police officials say their services for gender-based violence are improving.
"I don't think it is true that the police do not act when it comes to sexual and gender violence; we act when people report [cases]. But even those who report interfere with evidence by, for example, taking a shower before reporting, making it extremely hard to sustain such a cases in a court of law," said Charles Owino, deputy police spokesman.
Fewer than 15 percent of gender violence cases reported to the police in 2010 made it to court.
He added that the police had mapped out and increased patrols in sexual violence "hotspots" and set up gender desks at police stations across the country.
"Maybe what people need to know is that they must report immediately such a thing happens," Owino said.
Many women are also unaware of the health services they should seek - including HIV prevention, treatment for sexually transmitted infections and counseling - after a sexual attack.
PEP talk
When Harriet* and two friends went to the popular annual Agricultural Society of Kenya Show in the city of Kisumu in western Kenya in July, they were attacked and raped by a gang of six men, who also battered them, leaving them with serious physical injuries. They have since discovered that the show is notorious for sexual attacks.
"They followed us and attacked us in a poorly lit area. We couldn't scream because they had knives and we just gave in; they used our bodies," she said.
Harriet first heard about post-exposure prophylaxis - a course of antiretroviral drugs administered within 72 hours of HIV exposure to prevent infection - a month after the attack.
"I heard you have to take it within 72 hours... it couldn't help me," she said. "I dread going for an HIV test even today, because I don't know whether I can deal with a negative outcome."
Kisumu health authorities say PEP is available, but people are poorly informed about it.
"Many health facilities now have the drugs to administer for post-exposure prophylaxis but not many people who are exposed know it is available," said Charles Okal, provincial AIDS and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) control coordinator for western Kenya's Nyanza Province. "I believe we can do a better job by sensitizing people on how to get these services and increase uptake too."
According to Mohamed Ibrahim, head of the National AIDS and STI Control Program, the government has begun sensitization to improve the use of PEP services, but is still grappling with how to roll out the messages safely and effectively.
"I believe the awareness level is now higher than before, but we have to be careful to guard against abuse because that can lead us into more problems. We have cases where people take the drugs but upon completion do not return for HIV tests," he said.
Andrew Suleh, medical superintendent of Nairobi's Mbagathi District Hospital, says post-rape care would be better if all the necessary services were in one place.
"A rape victim should be able to get all services at one place, ranging from counseling to provision of emergency contraception and post-exposure prophylaxis drugs and even legal aid," he said. "Ideally that should be it, but due to human resource constraints, this might not be easy to achieve in resource-poor settings such us ours."
ko/kr/mw
*One name used to protect her identity
- Provided by Integrated Regional Information Networks.
Republish
Email
Facebook
Digg
Twitter
Share
Copyright © 2011 IRIN - All rights reserved.Content including text, photos, videos, audio, graphics and logos may not be used for commercial purposes, reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium without permission and license from IRIN.
[ Close ]
When publishing articles from AHN we require that you follow several simple rules and that you abide by our Terms and Conditions.
You may:
Use and display the provided article text on a website or blog.
Under the following conditions:
You may not republish the article(s) wholesale, automatically or systematically; articles must be republished individually.
You may not sell license or redistribute the content without specific permission. Email us if you’d like to.
You must display and attribute the article in the manner specified by AHN (but not in any way that suggests that we endorse you or your use of the work).
You may not remove ads, logos or tracking information from the article.
You may display the article on a website, but you may not use the article for any other commercial purposes.
You may not alter, rewrite, transform, or build upon the article.
You may only use provided the javascript code to request the article from our systems.
Copy and paste the following into your blog entry or the HTML on your page. It will automatically deliver the article as the page loads.
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.allheadlinenews.com//syndicator?storyid=7020884860"></script>
<< Return to script page
License
THE WORK (AS DEFINED BELOW) IS PROVIDED UNDER THE TERMS OF THIS LICENSE ("LICENSE"). THE WORK IS PROTECTED BY COPYRIGHT AND/OR OTHER APPLICABLE
LAW. ANY USE OF THE WORK OTHER THAN AS AUTHORIZED UNDER THIS LICENSE OR COPYRIGHT LAW IS PROHIBITED.
BY EXERCISING ANY RIGHTS TO THE WORK PROVIDED HERE, YOU ACCEPT AND AGREE TO BE BOUND BY THE TERMS OF THIS LICENSE. TO THE EXTENT THIS LICENSE
MAY BE CONSIDERED TO BE A CONTRACT, THE LICENSOR GRANTS YOU THE RIGHTS CONTAINED HERE IN CONSIDERATION OF YOUR ACCEPTANCE OF SUCH TERMS AND
CONDITIONS.
1. Definitions
"Collective Work" means a work, such as a periodical issue, anthology or encyclopedia, in which the Work in its entirety in
unmodified form, along with one or more other contributions, constituting separate and independent works in themselves, are assembled into a
collective whole. A work that constitutes a Collective Work will not be considered a Derivative Work (as defined below) for the purposes of this
License.
"Derivative Work" means a work based upon the Work or upon the Work and other pre-existing works, such as a translation,
musical arrangement, dramatization, fictionalization, motion picture version, sound recording, art reproduction, abridgment, condensation, or any
other form in which the Work may be recast, transformed, or adapted, except that a work that constitutes a Collective Work will not be considered a
Derivative Work for the purpose of this License. For the avoidance of doubt, where the Work is a musical composition or sound recording, the
synchronization of the Work in timed-relation with a moving image ("synching") will be considered a Derivative Work for the purpose of this License.
"Licensor" means the individual, individuals, entity or entities that offers the Work under the terms of this License.
"Original Author" means the individual, individuals, entity or entities who created the Work.
"Work" means the copyrightable work of authorship offered under the terms of this License.
"You" means an individual or entity exercising rights under this License who has not previously violated the terms of this
License with respect to the Work, or who has received express permission from the Licensor to exercise rights under this License despite a previous
violation.
2. Fair Use Rights. Nothing in this license is intended to reduce, limit, or restrict any rights arising from fair use, first
sale or other limitations on the exclusive rights of the copyright owner under copyright law or other applicable laws.
3. License Grant. Subject to the terms and conditions of this License, Licensor hereby grants You a worldwide, non-exclusive,
revocable (for the duration of the applicable copyright) license to exercise the rights in the Work as stated below:
to reproduce the Work, to incorporate the Work into one or more Collective Works;
The above rights may be exercised on freely and openly accessible web media formats . The above rights include the right to make such
modifications as are technically necessary to exercise the rights in other media and formats, but otherwise you have no rights to make any alterations
or Derivative Works. All rights not expressly granted by Licensor are hereby reserved, including but not limited to the rights set forth in
Sections 4(d) and 4(e).
4. Restrictions.The license granted in Section 3 above is expressly made subject to and limited by the following restrictions:
You may publicly display the Work only under the terms of this License, and You must include a copy of, or the Uniform Resource Identifier
for, this License with every copy of the Work You publicly display. You may not offer or impose any terms on the Work that restrict the terms of this
License or the ability of a recipient of the Work to exercise the rights granted to that recipient under the terms of the License. You may not
sublicense the Work. You must keep intact all notices that refer to this License and to the disclaimer of warranties. When You publicly display the
Work, You may not impose any technological measures on the Work that restrict the ability of a recipient of the Work from You to exercise the rights
granted to that recipient under the terms of the License. This Section 4(a) applies to the Work as incorporated in a Collective Work, but this does
not require the Collective Work apart from the Work itself to be made subject to the terms of this License. If You create a Collective Work, upon
notice from any Licensor You must, to the extent practicable, remove from the Collective Work any credit as required by Section 4(c), as demanded.
You may not exercise any of the rights granted to You in Section 3 above in any manner that is primarily intended for or directed toward
commercial advantage or private monetary compensation. The exchange of the Work for other copyrighted works by means of digital file-sharing or
otherwise shall not be considered to be intended for or directed toward commercial advantage or private monetary compensation, provided there is no
payment of any monetary compensation in connection with the exchange of copyrighted works.
If You publicly display the Work (as defined in Section 1 above) or Collective Works (as defined in Section 1 above), You must, unless a
request has been made pursuant to Section 4(a), keep intact all copyright notices for the Work and provide, reasonable to the medium or means You are
utilizing: (i) the name of the Original Author (or pseudonym, if applicable) if supplied, and/or (ii) if the Original Author and/or Licensor
designate another party or parties (e.g. a sponsor institute, publishing entity, journal) for attribution ("Attribution Parties") in Licensor's
copyright notice, terms of service or by other reasonable means, the name of such party or parties; the title of the Work if supplied; to the extent
reasonably practicable, the Uniform Resource Identifier, if any, that Licensor specifies to be associated with the Work, unless such URI does not
refer to the copyright notice or licensing information for the Work. The credit required by this Section 4(c) may be implemented in any reasonable
manner; provided, however, that in the case of a Collective Work, at a minimum such credit will appear, if a credit for all contributing authors of
the Collective Work appears, then as part of these credits and in a manner at least as prominent as the credits for the other contributing authors.
For the avoidance of doubt, You may only use the credit required by this clause for the purpose of attribution in the manner set out above and, by
exercising Your rights under this License, You may not implicitly or explicitly assert or imply any connection with, sponsorship or endorsement by
the Original Author, Licensor and/or Attribution Parties, as appropriate, of You or Your use of the Work, without the separate, express prior written
permission of the Original Author, Licensor and/or Attribution Parties.
5. Representations, Warranties and Disclaimer
UNLESS OTHERWISE MUTUALLY AGREED TO BY THE PARTIES IN WRITING, LICENSOR OFFERS THE WORK AS-IS AND ONLY TO THE EXTENT OF ANY
RIGHTS HELD IN THE LICENSED WORK BY THE LICENSOR. THE LICENSOR MAKES NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND CONCERNING THE WORK, EXPRESS,
IMPLIED, STATUTORY OR OTHERWISE, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, WARRANTIES OF TITLE, MARKETABILITY, MERCHANTIBILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE,
NONINFRINGEMENT, OR THE ABSENCE OF LATENT OR OTHER DEFECTS, ACCURACY, OR THE PRESENCE OF ABSENCE OF ERRORS, WHETHER OR NOT DISCOVERABLE. SOME
JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OF IMPLIED WARRANTIES, SO SUCH EXCLUSION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.
6. Limitation on Liability.
EXCEPT TO THE EXTENT REQUIRED BY APPLICABLE LAW, IN NO EVENT WILL LICENSOR BE LIABLE TO YOU ON ANY
LEGAL THEORY FOR ANY SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR EXEMPLARY DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF THIS LICENSE OR THE USE OF THE WORK, EVEN IF
LICENSOR HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.
7. Termination
This License and the rights granted hereunder will terminate automatically upon any breach by You of the terms of this License. Individuals
or entities who have received Collective Works (as defined in Section 1 above) from You under this License, however, will not have their licenses
terminated provided such individuals or entities remain in full compliance with those licenses. Sections 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, and 8 will survive any
termination of this License.
Subject to the above terms and conditions, the license granted here is perpetual (for the duration of the applicable copyright in the Work).
Notwithstanding the above, Licensor reserves the right to release the Work under different license terms or to stop distributing the Work at any
time; provided, however that any such election will not serve to withdraw this License (or any other license that has been, or is required to be,
granted under the terms of this License), and this License will continue in full force and effect unless terminated as stated above.
8. Miscellaneous
Each time You distribute or publicly digitally perform the Work (as defined in Section 1 above) or a Collective Work (as defined in Section
1 above), the Licensor offers to the recipient a license to the Work on the same terms and conditions as the license granted to You under this
License.
If any provision of this License is invalid or unenforceable under applicable law, it shall not affect the validity or enforceability of the
remainder of the terms of this License, and without further action by the parties to this agreement, such provision shall be reformed to the minimum
extent necessary to make such provision valid and enforceable.
No term or provision of this License shall be deemed waived and no breach consented to unless such waiver or consent shall be in writing and
signed by the party to be charged with such waiver or consent.
This License constitutes the entire agreement between the parties with respect to the Work licensed here. There are no understandings,
agreements or representations with respect to the Work not specified here. Licensor shall not be bound by any additional provisions that may appear
in any communication from You. This License may not be modified without the mutual written agreement of the Licensor and You.
There are no third-party beneficiaries to this Licesnse.
You waive any right to jury trial in connection with any action or litigation in any way arising out of or related to this License. You
agree to pay all reasonable attorney fees and other costs incurred by Your breach of this license.
This agreement will be governed and construed in accordance with the laws of
the State of Florida without regard to its conflicts of law provisions. You agree to submit to the personal jurisdiction of the state and
federal courts located in Palm Beach County in the State of Florida, and any cause of action which arise from use of this web site or from
interpretation of these terms and conditions must be filed in the state and federal courts located in Palm Beach County, State of Florida. If
any provision of this agreement shall be unlawful, void, or for any reason unenforceable, then that provision shall be deemed severable from this
agreement and shall not affect the validity and enforceability of any remaining provisions. Any remaining provisions shall be given effect to
the fullest extent possible.
Need more news? visit FeedSyndicate for all of your content needs
This is a BETA service and subject to change or cancellation.
Recent Posts
Most Popular Comments
Recent Comments
Popular Threads
Advertisement
Advertisement
[ CLOSE ]
-->
[ CLOSE ]
[ CLOSE ]
[ CLOSE ]
Submit News |
Privacy Policy |
Terms of Use |
Contact Us |
News and Content Feeds |
Journalism Jobs
Follow AHN on Twitter
AHN Social News connects you with friends and the news
© 2011 AHN All Rights Reserved | Hosted on the NewsBahn™
Other News on Wednesday, 26 October 2011 U.S. court revives human rights case versus Rio Tinto
|
Kenya arrests suspect with grenade cache after blasts
|
Peres defends Abbas after Israeli foreign minister's attack
|
Iraq rounds up Baathists ahead of U.S. pullout
|
Amazon slumps after missing expectations
|
Target website crashes for second time in six weeks
|
IBM names Rometty to succeed Palmisano as CEO
|
Broadcom sees revenue drop this quarter
|
Target shoots for brisk holiday electronics season
|
Panasonic to make smaller LCD panels as TV sales lag: report
|
Michael Jackson top earner among dead celebrities
|
Kelly Clarkson as strong as ever on new album
|
Lindsay Lohan plans to pose in Playboy
|
Stallone sued, accused of stealing screenplay
|
Aerosmith's Tyler hurt after fall in Paraguay: report
|
Lindsay Lohan's father jailed in Florida
|
Between A Hygienist And A Dentist, A Hard Sell
Obama respite for Americans burdened with student loan payments
Agro World Co., Ltd announces the introduction of the new Chili Willy Mini 3-pack on eBay. Chili Willy new mini pack
WTA Championships: Wozniacki tops Radwanska; Kvitova, Stosur record wins
Design Yourself Healthy: A New Innovative Approach to the Obesity Epidemic
Vikings cornerback Chris Cook charged with felony domestic assault
Ryan's express: Falcons quarterback proves value by return from injury
Kardashians cooking up homeware line
Today is the day that celebrates the sourest
Running back Baxter off team at Southern Cal; to focus on academics
Libyans seek further NATO help
|
Berlusconi to give summit minimum reform promise
|
Turkey struggles to shelter thousands after quake
|
Protecting children from abuser-volunteers
Big 12 set to welcome West Virginia as Missouri appears headed to SEC
Thai capital warned massive water on the way
|
Sexual violence still a major urban threat
Taliban commanders say Pakistan intelligence helps them
|
Proposal to scrap bail could worsen abysmal prison conditions
Tunisia Islamists send business-friendly message after victory
|
Bangladesh population pegged at 150.5 million
Millions of children immunized against polio
Saudi king set to name Prince Nayef as heir
|
Study: Flu vaccine about 60 percent effective
Peugeot Citroen announces it will cut 10% of labor force to curb costs
Senator Landrieu: Dont cut aid to Israel
Public college tuition rises 8 percent
Assad meets Arab ministers; 13 killed in clashes
|
As Yemen crisis grows, south separatists see opportunity
|
The human cost of defending Libya's oil
|
BlackBerry maker delays tablet update in new setback
|
Olympus head quits; watchdog probes firm on disclosure
|
Exclusive: National Security Agency helps banks battle hackers
|
Nokia proclaims new dawn with Windows phones
|
Amazon.com shares slump as costs weigh on outlook
|
Electronics firms see Thai disruption for many quarters
|
Sprint eyes new financing as iPhone swells costs
|
Nintendo H1 recurring loss seen at $1.32 billion: report
|
Lenovo sees hard disk supply constraints from Thai floods
|
Analysis: Agreement seen distant at London cyber conference
|
Winehouse had high alcohol levels in blood: inquest
|
A Minute With: Johnny Depp and his Rum Diary
|
Extreme Makeover helps build seven Joplin homes in a week
|
Nurse says Jackson sought anesthetic for sleep
|
UK music charity attacks Cowell over X-Factor act
|
Aerosmith's Tyler falls, Paraguay concert delayed
|
Greece at new risk of being pushed off euro
Bodies of missing Tenn. mom, Jo Ann Bain, and daughter found
Female Breasts Are Bigger Than Ever
AMD Trinity Accelerated Processing Units Now in Volume Production
The Avengers (2012 film), made the second biggest opening- and single-day gross of all-time
AMD to Start Production of piledriver
Ivy Bridge Quad-Core, Four-Thread Desktop CPUs
Islamists Protest Lady Gaga's Concert in Indonesia
Japan Successfully Broadcasts an 8K Signal Over the Air
ECB boosts loans to 1 trillion Euro to stop credit crunch
Egypt : Mohammed Morsi won with 52 percent
What do you call 100,000 Frenchmen with their hands up
AMD Launches AMD Embedded R-Series APU Platform
Fed Should not Ignore Emerging Market Crisis
Fed casts shadow over India, emerging markets
Why are Chinese tourists so rude? A few insights