Saturday, 23 November 2024

Elderly father ordered to gang rape his daughters refused - so he was raped as well

At least 900 women and girls, and some men and boys, were targeted during a wave of violence that hit Kenya after Kenya's disputed 2007 election that saw 1,133 killed.

 

An elderly father was ordered to gang rape his daughters and refused - so he was raped as well.

Hundreds of victims of rape and brutal sexual assaults have spoken out about their ordeals and the scars they still bear from one of the most chaotic periods of Kenya's history.

At least 900 women and girls, and some men and boys, were targeted during a wave of violence that hit Kenya after the country's disputed 2007 election that saw 1,133 killed.

Many survivors suffered physical disabilities and mental health problems due to their horrific ordeals but have been ignored by the Kenyan government which has done little to give them compensation or justice.

A new report released by Human Rights Watch documents the ongoing physical, mental, social, and economic impact of sexual violence during the post-election violence.

 

Human Rights Watch Wangechi N, 60, was raped by men she did not know in December 2007 in Kenya
Shocking violence: Wangechi was raped by men she did not know

 

An elderly man, Joseph N, 82, was made to watch as his two daughters were raped by a gang of 50 young men who then ordered him to join in the violence.

When he refused to take part, they raped him.

Speaking of the attack on January 2, 2008 he said: "They said they will teach me a lesson. They beat and raped both my daughters; so many of them. Then they told me to rape my children. I refused.

"They hit me with a metal bar and some teeth came off. They pulled out some of my other teeth one by one. They broke my chin."

"They said, 'If you don’t want to do what we are telling you, you will be our wife.' Six boys took me aside and told me to undress. I refused.

"They beat me all over. My skull cracked a little. They did a very bad thing to me. They made me their wife; they made me a homosexual."

One of his daughters contracted HIV from the rape and died in June 2014.

The other one had been badly beaten and shot with a poisoned arrow. They amputated her leg but she kept ailing and died in May 2015.

Joseph N, who has been left with chronic health issues, now cares for some of his grandchildren.

 

Human Rights Watch Lucy G, 46, from Nairobi, Kenya, was gang-raped in December 2007
Multiple attackers: Lucy was gang-raped by a group of men

 

Most of the 163 female and nine male survivors of sexual assaults interviewed by HRW had been raped by more than one perpetrator.

In many of the cases, the brutal sexual assaults involved more than four perpetrators and, in a few instances, more than ten.

Several victims describe how the perpetrators used foreign objects during the rapes, with some describing how their assailants used items from pipes to bottles to guns.

The violence erupted across Kenya after incumbent President Mwai Kibaki won the presidential election held on December 27, 2007.

President Kibaki's government accused supporters of his opponent Raila Odinga of 'ethnic cleansing,' to which Odinga himself responded by claiming the Kibaki government was guilty of genocide.

 

Human Rights Watch Nyasiongo F, 24, stands outside her house in a slum in Nairobi, Kenya with her seven-year-old son born from rape
Pregnancy: Nyasiongo with her seven-year-old son born from rape

 

Nyasiongo F., aged 24, was gang raped with her then 12-year-old sister, who suffered a brain injury during the sexual assault.

She said: "The man was so violent with my sister because she was screaming. He hit her on the head with his fists and she fainted.

"She was in a coma for six months. She is not okay mentally. She does not know how to use a toilet. She faints often.

"Sometimes she gets violent and breaks things in the house. I became pregnant following the rape and I live with her and my son. We have no relative to help us. It is very hard on me."

Some women were abused and abandoned by their husbands who could not cope with the thought their wives had been raped and often been made pregnant.

 

Human Rights Watch Cheptoo M, a blind woman, was raped together with her younger sister by two general service unit officers at their home in a slum in Kenya
Targeted: Cheptoo, a blind woman, was raped together with her younger sister

 

One woman, Akinyi L, said: "Six men took me and six other women to a nearby bush and raped us.

"My husband loathed me after the rape. Things became worse after I gave birth. He would say, “This child is a bush baby. You should have aborted her.” He was not nice to the child. If he found her drinking or eating something he would just grab it.

"He also became abusive towards me. He would tell me, 'Take your bush child and take it where you collected it from. You are rotten and you should not sleep in my house.'. One day he came home with another woman and told me to sleep on the floor. I left him that day in 2009."


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