Kenya: Women Fight Back Against Violence

From Media Global:

According to the Nairobi Women’s hospital, one person is raped every thirty minutes in Kenya. Sexual violence leaves many women fearful for their lives. However, many are discovering a way to fight back.

Dr. Jake Sinclair, founding member of Ugamaan, a non-governmental organization that provides help to rape victims told MediaGlobal, “A recent survey found that in the village in Korogocho (a slum outside of Nairobi), one in every women are raped every year. The same survey also found that over 70 percent of women had been raped at least once in their lifetime.”

Sinclair explained, “Rapes in Kenya are often incomprehensively heinous, old grandmothers brutally raped, sometimes to their death, and babies or young children can be permanently disfigured. However, very little is being done to help these women.

While the number of women affected by sexual violence in Kenya remains high, women’s self-defense programs offer a glimmer of hope in an otherwise dire situation. While waiting for the government to implement a new bathroom strategy, these women are taking their lives into their own hands and protecting themselves against sexual violence in Kenya.