WUNRN
http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/poverty-matters/2012/dec/04/kenyan-girls-law-fight-rape
Website Link Includes Video.
KENYA - GIRLS' PROJECT USES LAW
TO FIGHT BACK AGAINST RAPE
The 160 Girls Project is taking
A poster
warning against rape on a street in
Child marriage, acid attacks, tyrannical
male guardians and culture and traditions so ingrained that young men see the
casual sexual assault of women in the streets as justifiable.
These are just some of the challenging topics
discussed at the Trust Women conference in
But among the disturbing stories shared by
speakers from around the world came one particularly feisty tale of hope – an
organisation that is taking the Kenyan government to court for not protecting
girls from rape
or putting their rapists on trial.
The 160 Girls Project is a
legal initiative that is seeking justice for the thousands of young women and
girls who are raped and routinely ignored by the authorities. Despite Kenya's
impressive suite of gender laws promising protection against assault, their
implementation is not guaranteed. The law against rape – or defilement, as it's
known in
"The government has done very little to
effect laws," Mercy Chidi, programme director at Ripples
International, told the conference. She has seen first-hand the
emotional and physical consequences of sexual assaults on Kenyan girls.
"We have good laws but unless they are effected, what are we doing?"
Her organisation has "rescued" more than 270 girls who have been
raped and who, as a result, find themselves in vulnerable situations. Some are
pregnant. The youngest child so far has been three, the oldest 16. After
hearing the "devastating" girls' stories, Chidi started to wonder
whether there were ways to "hold the state accountable for not helping
girls".
Enter The Equality Effect, an
NGO that uses human rights laws to improve the lives of women and girls. The
organisation brought together Chidi and her team on the frontline, social
workers and a group of lawyers from around the world to look at ways in which
the Kenyan government could be held to account.
Fiona Sampson, executive director
of The Equality Effect, told the conference that these three groups
"looked at all options" of taking civil or criminal claims against
the government for not acting on claims of defilement. The term
"defilement" is problematic in itself, says Sampson. It's a British
term that originally referred to the defilement of property.
After a year of research and
discussion, the group decided to bring a claim against the government under the
equality provision in the country's 2010 constitution. "The police fail to
protect girls from rape and effect the law, which constitutes sex and age
discrimination," said Sampson.
It took another two years to gather the evidence
from those who had experienced sexual assault. But on 11 October this year, on
the first UN international day of the girl,
160 Girls made legal history in
"We're looking forward to
celebrating the next victory, the declaration that police must effect existing
laws," says Sampson. Now begins the waiting game for the result. I'm sure
I won't be the only one keen to hear the outcome.