Kenya: Unending Toll for Rape Survivors

(Nairobi) – Hundreds of women and girls raped during Kenya’s 2007-2008 post-election violence struggle with devastating physical and psychological health conditions, poverty, and social exclusion, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. The Kenyan government has failed to provide basic assistance and redress for the rape survivors.

The 104-page report, “‘I Just Sit and Wait to Die’: Reparations for Survivors of Kenya’s 2007-2008 Post-Election Sexual Violence,” is based on interviews with 163 women and girls, nine male survivors, and witnesses of rape or other sexual violence in the post-election period. Human Rights Watch found that most of the survivors interviewed were still in dire need of medical attention, leaving them unable to work or pursue education, adding to their poverty and hunger. The government has recently promised reparations, which should be designed in consultation with survivors of sexual violence to ensure their full inclusion in all programs.

Fatma W. with her 7-year-old son born from rape. Fatma was 17 when she was gang raped at their home in Nairobi by three men who accused her family of hiding men from the “enemy” tribe. She stopped going to school after the rape. Fatma said her neighbors stigmatize her son because he was born from rape. © 2015 Samer Muscati/Human Rights Watch

“We were shocked to find how many survivors are sick, living in poverty and stigmatized, ignored, and often rejected instead of helped by the government,” said Agnes Odhiambo, senior Africa women’s rights researcher at Human Rights Watch. “Recent commitments by President Uhuru Kenyatta provide a critical opportunity to address the needs of survivors of Kenya’s post-election sexual violence.”

The violence that erupted after the disputed presidential election in 2007 included ethnic killings and reprisals by supporters of both ruling and opposition parties and excessive force by police in crackdowns on protesters. It left 1,133 people dead and displaced approximately 600,000 people. Officials say at least 900 cases of sexual violence occurred, but this is most likely an underestimate.

Kenya — Wairimu V., 65, was raped by a group of men at an IDP camp. Her husband blames her for the rape, and beats and verbally abuses her including in the presence of their children. She would like to leave her abusive husband but is worried that she will not be able to support herself. She has such severe pain in her leg, lower abdomen and back that she has to take pain killers daily; she also has vaginal bleeding and hypertension. Many sexual violence survivors are still in urgent need of medical treatment and psycho-social support. © 2015 Samer Muscati/Human Rights Watch

Kamene F. stands outside her house in a slum in Nairobi with her 7-year-old son born from rape. Kamene stopped attending school after the rape. The registration office refused to issue her son with a birth certificate and demanded that Kamene provide the name of the father, whom she does not know. Kamene is also raising her young sister whose rape was so violent it left her with a brain injury – she faints often and cannot use a toilet, feed herself, or go to school. Their family abandoned them when they learnt of the rapes. © 2015 Samer Muscati/Human Rights Watch

Mwende T., 16 at the time, was raped in January 2008 by a neighbor who said he would help her to escape from marauding youths. When she went to the police after a few days to report the rape, a police officer said she was lying about being raped. Mwende had to move when the man who raped her threatened to kill her when he learnt she had gone to the police. Survivors of sexual violence have experienced formidable challenges in getting help from authorities and accessing justice. © 2015 Samer Muscati/Human Rights Watch

Eighty-three-year-old Thomas N. was attacked by a group of youth in January 2008. They beat and gang-raped his two daughters who have since died from health problems associated with the rape. Thomas is taking care of some of his grandchildren. The attackers also beat him badly, breaking almost all his teeth, and cracking his skull, to force him to rape his daughters. They then gang-raped him. He has received money from government that enabled him to buy land and build a house, but he has chronic health problems since the attack. © 2015 Samer Muscati/Human Rights Watch

Lucy G., 46, from Nairobi was married with a good job. But all that ended when she was gang-raped inDecember 2007. Lucy had a stroke in 2012, which has limited her ability to use her hands properly, walk and work. She lives alone in this one-roomed house in a slum in Nairobi, and has no family support. She is often hungry and has no money to seek proper treatment. © 2015 Samer Muscati/Human Rights Watch

Jaqueline Mutere, 48, walks on a rail line in Kibera, the largest slum in Kenya, which was one of the hotspots of the post-election violence. She was raped in December 2007 by a man she knows. She is now raising her daughter born from the rape although she says she struggled to accept her. Jaqueline started Grace Agenda, a community-based organization, to support survivors of sexual violence particularly women struggling to raise children born from rape. Some children face stigma, rejection, and physical and verbal abuse by immediate family, extended family, and in the wider community; and discrimination in acquiring birth certificates. © 2015 Samer Muscati/Human Rights Watch

John K., 48, sits at a stair case in a house in Kibera slum. Patterns of sexual violence during the 2007-2008 post-election violence in Kenya included widespread rape of mostly women and girls, and men and boys to a lesser extent. John is one of the few survivors who has received professional long-term counselling at Kenyatta National Hospital’s Gender Violence Recovery Center. The majority of survivors have not received any counselling or had insufficient counselling to deal with the impact of sexual violence and other abuses. © 2015 Samer Muscati/Human Rights Watch

Atieno O. W. 36, has twice been a victim of rape. In 1992 she watched as her mother was gang-raped by a group of men during tribal clashes in Rift Valley. Since then she is easily frightened and experiences periodic blackouts. She was raped again in December 2007 during the post-election violence. She has never told her husband about the rape but says he is suspicious and still questions whether she was sexually assaulted during the violence. She is afraid that if he finds out the truth he will chase her away and she would not be able to support their three children on her own. Many sexual violence survivors suffer in silence and alone, without the support of family members who also stigmatize and reject them. © 2015 Samer Muscati/Human Rights Watch

Wangechi N., 60, was raped by men she did not know in December 2007. She and her family were evicted from their home in Eldoret. She is pictured here in her vegetable garden in an area where some families expelled from their homes during the post-election violence bought land and rebuilt homes with the support of government and Kenya’s development partners. The Kenyan government’s efforts to compensate victims of the violence have been limited, and have effectively excluded many victims of sexual violence. © 2015 Samer Muscati/Human Rights Watch

Cheptoo M., a blind woman, displays her walking cane. She was raped together with her younger sister by two General Service Unit officers at their home in a slum in Nairobi. Her husband became verbally abusive following the rape and eventually left her. Cheptoo is also living with HIV. She is raising her own child and four children of her sister who died in 2013, with no family support. Kenya’s plan to develop a reparations process should include support tailored to meet the specific needs of women, including age and disability-specific needs, the economic and psychosocial impact of raising children born out of rape, and whether they are child or female-headed households. © 2015 Samer Muscati/Human Rights Watch

Sinapei P., 62, stands at her husband’s grave at their home in Rift Valley region. When Sinapei’s husband found out that she had been raped, he refused to sleep with her, beat her, chased her away from home, brought other women home, and verbally abused her. He died in 2014 and she is very worried that her brothers-in-law will take away her land and home and she will have nowhere to live. © 2015 Samer Muscati/Human Rights Watch

Maua E., 53, at her relocated home in Rift Valley. Maua went to Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital for treatment two days after being gang raped but the health workers ridiculed her and delayed treatment. Some women who sought medical treatment for sexual violence were mocked by health care workers, turned away without treatment, or denied important medical records by doctors who appeared to refuse treatment on the basis of ethnicity or trivialized the experience of rape. © 2015 Samer Muscati/Human Rights Watch

Nafula K.,46, was gang raped together with three other women by four men in January 2008 while at an IDP camp. Her husband beats her, verbally abuses her, and refuses to sleep with her. Her family was also evicted from their home during the post-election violence. She says she wants to leave her abusive husband but wants the government to first build her a house so that she can have a place to go to. Many sexual violence survivors experience physical and verbal abuse in their homes. © 2015 Samer Muscati/Human Rights Watch

Many of those interviewed had been brutally raped during the violence, most in gang rapes that involved more than four attackers - more than 10 in a few cases. Women said they were penetrated with guns, sticks, bottles, and other objects. Many were raped in the presence of other family members, including young children. Some men and boys were also raped or forcibly circumcised or castrated. Attackers included members of Kenya’s security forces as well as civilians and militia groups.

“I was raped by five men - they were beating me, pulling my legs apart,” said Njeri N., who suffered traumatic fistula, an injury that often causes urine and feces leakage and still has a leg injury and back pain. “I got so hurt. I have a problem controlling urine. I am so ashamed.”

The Kenyan government has provided limited compensation to people who were displaced or lost property, providing some money, housing, and land. Survivors of rape and other sexual violence have largely been excluded and very little has been done to address their specific medical or other needs.

We were shocked to find how many survivors are sick, living in poverty and stigmatized, ignored, and often rejected instead of helped by the government. Recent commitments by President Uhuru Kenyatta provide a critical opportunity to address the needs of survivors of Kenya’s post-election sexual violence.

Agnes Odhiambo

senior Africa women’s rights researcher

In March 2015, President Kenyatta announced a fund of 10 billion Kenyan shillings (US$9.8 million) to provide “restorative justice” for victims. This initiative can be a crucial opportunity for rape and sexual violence victims, if they and their needs are properly recognized and reparations are made in line with international good standards and practice, Human Rights Watch said. The Kenyan government needs to prioritize finding survivors who need urgent medical attention and to adopt policies to ensure they have access to free and voluntary medical and psychosocial services.

Survivors who come forward, whether or not they have been recognized as victims in successful prosecutions, should get recognition, restitution, and guarantees that they will be protected from such violence again. The fund should not be used by the government to avoid criminal accountability.

Some women and girls were infected with HIV and other sexually transmitted infections but have been too poor to travel to get free medication or get enough food to take it with.

The mental health impact of the attacks have destroyed lives. In almost every case, survivors described profound feelings of hopelessness, self-hatred, shame, anger, and sadness, many times reinforced by their isolation from being stigmatized as rape victims. Some contemplated suicide. The government does not provide them with adequate psychosocial support services.

Women and girls have also experienced family or social problems, including rejection and isolation, as a direct result of the rapes or other attacks. Many are verbally or physically abused by husbands or other family members.

Among the women interviewed, 37 said they had become pregnant as a result of rape. Many gave birth to the babies because abortion is illegal and seen as immoral in Kenya. These women often suffer ambiguous or angry feelings toward their children who themselves also face stigma, rejection, and physical or verbal abuse by their families. Some children have also been discriminated against when acquiring birth certificates since the mothers could not provide the father’s name. There has been almost no acknowledgement by the government or others of these mothers and their children and their special needs, which should also be addressed in the justice and reparations processes.

Only a handful of people have been prosecuted for the sexual violence during the post-election crisis. A report from a Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission completed in 2013 is yet to be adopted by parliament. Findings from an investigation into police misconduct, including sexual abuse, during the post-election violence have never been made public.

“The Kenyan government has shirked its responsibilities toward the post-election victims of sexual violence,” Odhiambo said. “It is crucial for the government to carefully plan and deliver reparations for these victims to alleviate their suffering.”