African Woman and Child Feature Service

Violence against women has been systemic and entrenched in our society but the post-election period saw an unprecedented number of women subjected to widespread sexual violence. Many women were sexually assaulted, gang raped or sodomised.  Many of these acts of sexual violence occurred in the presence of the women’s spouses, children or parents, thereby increasing the trauma, humiliation and stress suffered by survivors and their families.  Perpetrators of this violence were civilian and state security agents.

 As a result of the sexual violence experienced during this period many women became pregnant, others contracted HIV and hepatitis, many lost their homes and were rejected by their husbands. In numerous cases, the women knew, and could identify, the perpetrators. Some reported or attempted to report the incidents to the authorities, but many more could not identify their attackers or were not in a position, in the midst of the violence, to report the incidents. Others were unable to report the sexual violence to the police, as some perpetrators of the violence were state security agents.

The Waki commission on the post election violence was mandated to recommend legal, political and administrative measures to prevent violence in future and to ensure that those involved in the violence are brought to justice. FIDA Kenya engaged with the Waki Commission under the Inter Agency Gender Based Violence (GBV) Sub-Cluster chaired by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and co-chaired by the National Commission on Gender and Development. This sub-cluster was created following the post election violence with the objective of coordinating GBV prevention and response, documenting incidences of sexual violence and providing medical, psycho-social and counselling services to survivors. Other members of the Sub-Cluster included CARE, Women Empowerment Link and the Catholic Diocese of Nakuru. The Sub-Cluster was supported by UNFPA and the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) to gather evidence for presentation to the Commission. From the investigations, it clearly emerged that women bore the brunt of the post election violence. Apart from sexual violence, women were killed, they also lost their loved ones, their property and their houses were burnt and women also formed majority of the displaced persons

The Waki commission recommended formation of a special tribunal to "seek accountability against personas bearing the greatest responsibility for crimes, particularly crimes against humanity”. Considering the human rights abuses experienced by women during the post election violence the government is obligated to fully implement the recommendations of the commission. The government should ensure redress for women survivors of sexual violence by ensuring that all those who instigated and all those who carried out the acts of violence are not be allowed to get away with it, for then the culture of impunity will have been solidly planted in Kenya.

FIDA Kenya strongly supports the Waki recommendation to create a special tribunal to end Kenya’s systemic and cyclic impunity and human rights violations which is in accordance with obligations that Kenya has undertaken under international law. FIDA Kenya urges parliament to quickly set up an effective legal and institutional framework that will not only allow the proposed tribunal to operate in line with international standards but also that will allow all politicians, security agents, businessmen and others named in the list of alleged perpetrators including those who funded or participated in the orgy of violence to be exposed, investigated and prosecuted for the purpose of protecting Kenyans in particular, women and girls from the perpetual and soaring incidences of gender based violence. We believe that justice is the foundation for our country’s peace and stability.

FIDA Kenya also looks forward to the creation of the Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission (TJRC). We look forward to a TJRC that will involve women in its selection and one that will look into women’s issues by ensuring that perpetrators of sexual violence are not provided with amnesty. We also hope the TJRC will listen to women survivors of sexual violence and recommend compensation by the state for the various forms of violence they experienced and the land property that they lost. It is only then that our women can start the healing process which is a prerequisite towards achieving national healing and reconciliation for the whole nation.

Lucy Muricho is the PR and Communications Officer for the Federation of Women Lawyers - Kenya (FIDA KENYA)