KENYA: Sexual violence continues in IDP camps

KENYA: Sexual violence continues in IDP camps

NAKURU, 4 March 2008 (PlusNews) – Residents in a camp for displaced persons in Nakuru, in Rift Valley Province, western Kenya, were deeply shocked when a gang of men attacked and sexually assaulted five boys, but the health officials dealing with sexual violence during the recent political upheaval have had to become immune.

“Since the violence started we are seeing similar numbers of cases to what we would normally see over the same timespan, but there is one major difference: 90 percent of the cases we are seeing since the political crisis began are gang rapes,” said Lucy Kiama, head of the Gender Violence Recovery Centre at the Nairobi Women’s Hospital. “The gangs range from groups of two men to as many as eleven.”

An estimated 300 women have been treated for rape since the year began, many of them women and girls who had travelled from Rift Valley Province to the capital, Nairobi, often a journey of hundreds of kilometres that could take many hours by bus.

1,500 flock to Uganda camps – 18 Feb 08

1,500 flock to Uganda camps

More than 1411 Kenyans who have fled the country after the eruption of post election violence have camped at a Ugandan camp, some 60km from Busia Town. Ms Yumiko Takashima, head of the UNHCR office in Uganda, said the refugees at the Mulanda Community Polytechnic Instructor’s College came from as far as away Kibera slums in Nairobi, while others were from Eldoret, Mt Elgon, Busia, Malaba and Nakuru. Ms Takashima said those fleeing were of different ethnic backgrounds. He assured them that Mulanda was safe for all of them. “We have decided to set up temporary tents with the hope that peace will return in Kenya so that those who have been displaced can go back to their homes once negotiations that are being headed by former UN boss Kofi Annan are complete,” she said.