Kenya passes laws to fight ‘rape epidemic’

NAIROBI – Kenya has passed new laws intended to stem the country’s “epidemic of rape” and other sexual offences but women’s rights groups expressed outrage yesterday saying protections for married women were dropped.

One woman is raped every 30 seconds in Kenya, according to the government, and the local media regularly run stories of fathers violating small daughters, sometimes leaving them dead. Kenya’s outdated rape laws were introduced in 1930 under British colonial rule and have changed little since.After months of debate and controversy, including walk outs by women parliamentarians, Kenya passed its first sexual offences law late on Wednesday introducing sentences from five years to life in prison for sex offenders.The new law also introduced offences for child prostitution, sex tourism and trafficking, which had previously not been outlined in law.”The fact that Kenya finally has a law consolidating all the sexual offences is a huge step to eradicate the epidemic of rape in this country,” MP Njoki Ndung’u told Reuters.But some women’s activists said the essence of the bill was diluted after amendments were passed deleting clauses that criminalised marital rape and outlawed forced circumcision of adult women.”It is not what we bargained for.We were not happy with the removal of female circumcision and marital rape from the bill,” Jane Onyango, chair of the International Federation of Women Lawyers, told Reuters.Onyango said the police would have to be trained to deal with rape victims, adding that the attitude of police was one of the reasons why most rapes went unreported.Many women report that the police ridicule and blame them for the assault.The bill now needs to be signed into law by President Mwai Kibaki.A 2003 report by Kenyan and foreign aid agencies said rape and other sexual violence had increased fourfold in the country’s 32 million population since 1999.”We normally treat about 15 women a day with half being less then 16 years of age,” said Dr Sam Thenya head of Nairobi Women’s hospital, the only centre in the country to provide free treatment to rape victims.Kenyan police statistics, however, show a decline in reported rapes from 2 867 reported in 2005 to 2 908 in the previous year.But statistics are unreliable since many rapes go unreported due to culture stigma and a tradition of blaming the victim.- Nampa-ReutersKenya’s outdated rape laws were introduced in 1930 under British colonial rule and have changed little since.After months of debate and controversy, including walk outs by women parliamentarians, Kenya passed its first sexual offences law late on Wednesday introducing sentences from five years to life in prison for sex offenders.The new law also introduced offences for child prostitution, sex tourism and trafficking, which had previously not been outlined in law.”The fact that Kenya finally has a law consolidating all the sexual offences is a huge step to eradicate the epidemic of rape in this country,” MP Njoki Ndung’u told Reuters.But some women’s activists said the essence of the bill was diluted after amendments were passed deleting clauses that criminalised marital rape and outlawed forced circumcision of adult women.”It is not what we bargained for.We were not happy with the removal of female circumcision and marital rape from the bill,” Jane Onyango, chair of the International Federation of Women Lawyers, told Reuters.Onyango said the police would have to be trained to deal with rape victims, adding that the attitude of police was one of the reasons why most rapes went unreported.Many women report that the police ridicule and blame them for the assault.The bill now needs to be signed into law by President Mwai Kibaki.A 2003 report by Kenyan and foreign aid agencies said rape and other sexual violence had increased fourfold in the country’s 32 million population since 1999.”We normally treat about 15 women a day with half being less then 16 years of age,” said Dr Sam Thenya head of Nairobi Women’s hospital, the only centre in the country to provide free treatment to rape victims.Kenyan police statistics, however, show a decline in reported rapes from 2 867 reported in 2005 to 2 908 in the previous year.But statistics are unreliable since many rapes go unreported due to culture stigma and a tradition of blaming the victim.- Nampa-Reuters