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Date: April 29, 2024 Mon
Time: 8:55 pm
Time: 8:55 pm
Results for battered women (kenya)
1 results foundAuthor: Mc Evoy, Claire Title: Battering, Rape, and Lethal Violence A Baseline of Information on Physical Threats against Women in Nairobi Summary: The starting point for this research is the knowledge that gender-based physical and sexual violence targeting women is commonplace in Kenya—and that few cases are reported to the police. Almost half (45 per cent) of Kenyan women aged 15–49 have experienced physical or sexual violence, including ‘forced sexual initiation’, according to the 2008–09 Kenya Demographic and Health Survey (DHS), which surveyed 6,318 female respondents (KNBS and ICF Macro, 2010, p. 251). Reports of gender-based physical violence targeting women and girls ‘abound’ in the major national daily newspapers, on television, and on the radio (NCGD, 2010b, p. 2). A number of factors contribute to the widely tolerated levels of violence. These include the low status of women in society, patriarchal values and power structures focused on male dominance, discriminatory institutions and implementation of laws, the absence of a legal framework on intimate partner violence (IPV), and a criminal justice system that is largely inaccessible. Crucially, the low socio-economic status of most women—and the low status of poor people in general—perpetuates the status quo. Exacerbating matters, the violence meted out to women is rarely recognized; in a recent poll, for example, 72 per cent of respondents (240 in total, both male and female) from four districts in Kenya said that acts of gender-based physical violence—including rape, defilement, and battering—were not serious crimes (NCGD, 2010b, p. 30). A recent government report notes: ‘This finding on perception is significant in the sense that it brings out the fact that Kenya as a country tolerates a culture of violence against women, and that the country values and positions women much lower than men’. Most of the violence occurs within the domestic sphere, perpetrated by spouses or intimate partners as the women go about their daily routines (AI, 2009). It takes place as part of ‘normal’ life, as opposed to during conflict—although it peaks during times of political strife or tensions. During post-election violence in 2007–08 there was a spike of rapes targeting mostly poor women in their homes; the perpetrators were state security agents— from the Administration Police, Kenya Police, and General Service Unit — organized gangs, neighbours, relatives, and ‘friends’ (CIPEV, 2008, pp. 251–52). Police officers reportedly committed more than one-quarter (26 per cent) of the recorded rapes (HRW, 2011, p. 22). During this period, the Gender Violence Recovery Centre (GVRC) at Nairobi Women’s Hospital saw 524 cases of rape and defilement, of which almost 60 per cent occurred in Nairobi6 and 89 per cent targeted women and girls (GVRC, 2008b, pp. 7–9, 15). Perpetrators— who attacked in gangs of up to 11—reportedly chanted support for political parties (p. 14). It is unclear whether they were ordered to do so in support of those parties. As of August 2012, no post-election sexual violence cases had been prosecuted in Nairobi. It is important to understand this violence against a backdrop of consistently high levels of violence targeting both men and women—a recognized risk factor for violence against women anywhere in the world. A study in The Lancet, for example, notes that the risk of IPV ‘is greatest in societies where the use of violence in many situations is a socially accepted norm’ (Jewkes, 2002, p. 1423). Cross-cultural studies suggest that IPV is much more frequent in societies where violence is ‘usual in conflict situations and political struggles’ (p. 1428). Kenya’s history is littered with the use of state-sanctioned violence, including widespread, systematic, and grave human rights abuses committed during colonial times and by Kenyan administrations since (Elkins, 2005; KHRC, 2011a, p. 8).10 Ordinary citizens also frequently resort to violence as a dispute resolution mechanism; inter-communal clashes and killings, forced evictions and displacements, mob lynchings, school arson by students, and inter-familial revenge killings and suicides are all regularly reported by the media. Electionrelated violence often occurs in the run-up to, during, and after voting. Physical abuse of children,12 under the guise of ‘disciplinary’ measures, is also commonly reported. Details: Geneva, SWIT: Small Arms Survey, 2013. 80p. Source: Internet Resource: Working Paper 13: Accessed February 4, 2013 at: http://www.smallarmssurvey.org/fileadmin/docs/F-Working-papers/SAS-WP13-VAW-Nairobi.pdf Year: 2013 Country: Kenya URL: http://www.smallarmssurvey.org/fileadmin/docs/F-Working-papers/SAS-WP13-VAW-Nairobi.pdf Shelf Number: 127468 Keywords: Battered Women (Kenya)Intimate Partner ViolenceRapeSexual ViolenceViolence Against Women |