Survivors of sexual and gender-based violence call on Kenya’s government to publicly pledge to addressing SGBV during and after the elections. We urge leaders to refrain from inciting or committing any form of violence, especially SGBV during the elections. Hundreds of thousands of women, men, boys, and girls endure physical, psychological, and socio-economic scars due to rape, gang rapes, sexual assault, enslavement and exploitation, genital mutilation, forced circumcision and other forms of SGBV committed during the 2007-08 and 2017 post-election violence. As Kenyans prepare for the elections tomorrow, survivors call for a peaceful election and swift government response to SGBV.
The consequences of election related SGBV remain largely unaddressed in Kenya. Victims lost their sources of income, dropped out of school, and cannot restore their livelihoods, support their children’s education, and live in dignity. Children who were born because of rape committed against their mothers; now teenagers, still struggle with their identity and rejection.
“As we prepare to elect our leaders, we call on the presidential front-runners, to commit to implement the recommendations of the TJRC to provide comprehensive reparation to victims of election-related SGBV and other violations,” said Jacqueline Mutere, founder of Grace Agenda, a survivor-led NGO in Nairobi. “Further, we call on the candidates to commit to implement effective measures to continuously address socio-cultural beliefs and practices that perpetuate SGBV within our society.”
Several measures proposed in political manifestos promise to deal with structural problems resulting in gender-based and socio-economic inequalities, which are some of the underlying causes of past political violence. Unfortunately, none of the manifestos acknowledge the citizens who have paid a heavy price for the repeated cycles of election-related violence – through death and life-long disabilities and health complications such as traumatic fistula, ruptured uterus, sexual dysfunction and infertility, depression and mental health conditions, and HIV and sexually transmitted infections.
Recommendations of the TJRC calling for a comprehensive reparation program to address the impact of historical injustices and gross violations suffered by victims and their loved ones have been ignored by politicians.
Past investigations indicate that police were involved in committing SGBV in the context of security operations conducted during episodes of election-related violence. The Commission of Inquiry into the 2007-08 Post-Election Violence (Waki Commission) established that police officers, including General Service Unit (GSU), Kenya Police, and Administration Police, were the accused perpetrators in at least 26% of the reported incidences of rape and other forms of sexual violence.
In 2017, the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights established that approximately 50% of the documented incidences of sexual violence committed during and after the 2017 elections were reported to have been committed by police or “men in uniform”.
Police indicated in the past that they were unable to investigate SGBV committed during elections because victims either did not report or were unable to identify their alleged perpetrators. The police, backed by a recent decision of the High Court of Kenya (Constitutional Petition 122 of 2013 – now on appeal) also claimed that they do not owe a special duty to protect specific citizens from SGBV that may be committed by third parties, particularly when they are unaware of the existence of a potential threat.
This disregards the multiple challenges that survivors face, especially in the context of election-related violence. Survivors face stigma, fear of reprisals from perpetrators, containment of communities during security operations, and heightened insecurity. Moreover, past patterns of election-related violence and the 2022 Conflict Hotspots Mapping conducted by the National Cohesion and Integration Commission provide indicate a high likelihood of election-related violence across the country.
Because of this, survivors of SGBV state that:
- The Police and Ministry of Interior are hereby put on notice of the existence of a potential threat for SGBV in our communities during the 2022 election period. Sufficient resources and personnel are speedily deployed to ensure effective protection of citizens, especially women and girls in informal settlements, against SGBV committed not only by their fellow citizens but also rogue police officers and other state security actors.
- The Inspector General of Police should publicly issue an order calling on officers in charge to ensure that their subordinates do not engage in criminality, including SGBV, during election operations, and provide a clear commitment that immediate and proactive action will be taken to investigate and prosecute all incidences of election related SGBV, including those committed by police officers.
- The Inspector General of Police, Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) and National Police Service Internal Affairs Unit (IAU) should ensure that the names and identification details of all police officers deployed for election operations are publicly displayed at the chiefs’ office and police stations within affected communities. This will ensure increase chances for the identification of alleged perpetrators.
- The Director of Public Prosecutions, Chief Justice, Inspector General of Police, IPOA, IAU and National Council on Administration of Justice should ensure that special investigators, prosecutors and magistrates deployed to deal with election offences are properly trained and also focus on the investigation and prosecution of election related SGBV. Further, to ensure that investigations and prosecution of election related SGBV are undertaken as domestic and as international crimes under the International Crimes Act of 2009. This will ensure accountability for direct perpetrators of ER-SGBV as well as leaders who facilitate such violations or police leadership who fail to act to prevent or respond to potential or reported cases of ER-SGBV.
- The Inspector General of Police, Director of Public Prosecutions, Chief Justice, IEBC, NCIC, and Political Parties should investigate and prosecute individuals involved in several incidences of election-related offences and violations, including SGBV, committed during the campaign and pre-election period. This will deter would-be-perpetrators from similar conduct during and following the polling period.
- The Chief Justice working with the National Council on Administration of Justice should enact specific measures to fast-track investigations and prosecution of ER-SGBV cases, like election petitions. It’s unacceptable that victims of SGBV committed during the 2007-08 PEV have been in court seeking for accountability and reparation since February 2013 in Constitutional Petition No. 122 of 2013 and now in Appeal Case E645 of 2021.
- National and County Governments should collaborate with survivors, communities, civil society, faith leaders and humanitarian organizations to ensure timely, coordinated, and effective responses to victims who may be affected by election related-SGBV. The State should ensure timely deployment of specialized personnel for effective monitoring, early warning, and mitigation of potential risks of election related-SGBV; public outreach on available services; rapid rescue measures; toll free hotline numbers; safe shelters and spaces with reinforced security at chiefs’ camps, police stations, churches and mosques; emergency comprehensive health and post-rape care services as close as possible to affected communities, and legal aid. All measures should consider structural barriers such as stigma and security challenges that may limit survivors’ ability to report and access post-rape care services. Considerations must be made for persons with disabilities.
- National and County Governments should ensure that health facilities are equipped to provide post-rape care services pre, during and following the election period, including sufficient, round-the-clock medical staff, commodities, and medication. The Governments should put in place contingency measures to enhance access to post-rape care services, such as mobile clinics within communities lacking health facilities.