As the Commission of Inquiry into Post-Election Violence (CIPEV) prepares to start its public hearings, it is reassuring that evidence on Sexual and Gender Based Violence will form a key part of the investigations and hearings during the three months of the Commission’s mandate.

Everyone acknowledges that the task before the Commission is humongous and all eyes will be focused on them – especially  as they will be touching on the most sensitive aspects of the post-election violence.  Expectations are high among the Kenyan public and at the international level that the Commission will get to the bottom of  what happened between December 2007 and January 2008.  

Even though sexual violence is only one aspect of the  things the Commission will hear.  In order for for it to stand the test of time and  public confidence, it must form on the onset to build a reliable typology on what happened in Kenya and at the same time understand the magnitude and consequences of the sexual violence that was  meted against women, girls, men and boys. 

The torment for  survivors of sexual violence and their families is real.  Understandably, they worry constantly about how the Government will deal with  this  issue taking into consideration that many of them were unable to access emergency health care during the period of  violence and for those who did, the issue of evidence and its preservation,  is likely to be a setback in  their quest for justice within the legal system. 

This is always a challenge – especially when the evidence of rape has been washed off the survivor’s  body or clothing lost or destroyed.  These are the very things that buy the perpetrators of sexual violence their freedom from the legal system.  Kenya’s legal system demands that evidence be properly collected, stored and analysed – which is not always the case, moreso in the urgency of displacement and destruction of property that convulsed many communities in Kenya. 

Even though the media reports  indicated that over 350 people were sexually violated during the conflict period,  this figure is modest considering that quite a number of  such cases have not been reported. 

During a consultative meeting with the women’s organisations to come up with mechanisms  for representation for the hearings, The Commission and the women acknowledged that the challenges before them were real and myriad. But women were emphatic that one woman raped is far too many. This is why special attention should be given to issues of Sexual and Gender Based Violence. 

The same principle forms the basis of the UN  Security Council Resolution 1820  on Sexual Violence in conflict situations passes last week by the Security Council,  where States agreed that all sides to armed conflicts around the world must stop using violence against women as a tactic of war and take much tougher steps to protect women and girls from such attacks.

In a resolution adopted unanimously on women, peace and security, Council members said women and girls are consistently targeted during conflicts “as a tactic of war to humiliate, dominate, instil fear in, disperse and/or forcibly relocate civilian members of a community or ethnic group.”

I hope that Waki Commission will take the spirit on board. Given the precedent of Kenya’s history of the Government’s capacity to handle sexual violence in peace time as well as in conflict situation it is understandable that women are confident that they will see justice and compensation in the form of their recommendations. 

Some of concerns revolve around privacy, confidentiality, in the hearings and handling of women’s evidence, and whether the Commission which is all male will have the stomach to hear women’s stories. 

Although Justice Waki has gone on record to reassure women that he his Commission will have sensitive to all their concerns, it is never far from the heart of any woman who has been violated; how difficult it is to communicate the trauma of reliving the experience of violence that was targeted at their bodies. 

However it is gratifying to note that the Commisssion has an international nature to it, and any findings will be of interest not only to the people of Kenya but also to the international community which has committed itself to setting high standards on  the observance of human rights and on-going commitment to the  immediate and complete halt to acts of violence.