This archive report was first published on 16 July 2019.
On July 16, 2019, NJERI RUGENE wrote about the need for authorities to take a stronger stance against gender-based violence in a society where women and girls are increasingly being targeted.
Reports of police arresting paedophiles, rapists, and other criminals in relation to sexual and gender-based violence have been on the rise across the country. While it is heartening to see communities coming together to out these criminals, it is equally disturbing to note that female accomplices often go unpunished.
One such case involved a seven-year-old girl who was repeatedly sexually attacked by a close relative with the full knowledge of the perpetrator's wife. The child's aunt had adopted her with the promise of sending her to school, but the husband, her uncle, took to defiling her.
Another girl, 10, suffered a similar fate at the hands of her father, who had taken to defiling her at home as a matter of course. The child's 'helpless' mother would only 'advise' her to take a bath after the attacks by the man, her husband.
Just last week, a man who had been defiling his teenage stepdaughter in the full knowledge of his wife, the child's mother, was arrested in Nyandarua. However, the woman remains free.
Similarly, in a case involving an American couple who allegedly sexually abused children in their orphanage in Bomet, the elderly suspected paedophile, Gregory Dow, was arrested in the United States. However, there is no indication that his wife, who is suspected of being his accomplice, will be charged alongside him.
The woman is said to have procured birth control services for the victims without their consent to prevent pregnancy and conceal the crime.
Meru County has taken a commendable step in addressing gender-based violence by developing a policy aimed at protecting the rights of women and girls. The county's executive committee member in charge of Education, Technology, Gender and Social Development, Ms Linner Nkirote Kaillanya, says the county government took the action in the wake of increased reports of sexual and gender-based violence cases against girls, women, boys, and even men in the county.
