This archive report was first published on 24 September 2019.
Published on September 24, 2019, by NJERI RUGENE
Two weeks ago, I wrote about the need for society to protect the vulnerable, especially children and women, against sexual and gender-based violence.
What usually sparks my interest are the cases that some caring and responsible Kenyans refer to me – mainly of girls subjected to untold sexual abuse.
Most of the cases of sexual abuse and defilement are usually quite depressing. The worst of them are those where the children walk into scenes of more vulnerability and abuse in their bid to get justice.
Take the case of Viola, a teenager who was orphaned at 13. A relative stormed their home with an elderly man he wanted to force on her for “marriage”. Viola refused and ran away, ending up in the home of a friend of her father.
She was blamed for being raped and sent away with warnings and threats against reporting the matter to police. She would spend a week in the cold streets, sick and tired, until a Good Samaritan showed up.
While in one of these jobs three years later, the man of the house and three of his male friends pounced on her at night, when the wife was away. This gang brutalised and defiled her.
As Viola turns 18, she clutches in her feeble hands a baby from the violent sexual attack. Today, a kind soul is taking care of the pair.
Another case involves a Standard Five girl defiled by her elderly uncle recently. He says the man defiled the little girl repeatedly and made her pregnant. That put to an end to her education.
Her parents reported the matter to the chief and a nearby police station and the suspect was arrested and taken into custody. Shortly after, the loathsome man was released; “He walked free, threatened the little girl’s parents into submission and was never taken to court to face the law...that was the end of the game.”
As much as we may have laws to deal with sexual abuse against children, the government should set up a fund to assist such victims of sexual and gender violence. The authorities must also arrest and prosecute officers and administrators who abet the crimes or fail in their responsibility to deal with them.
