Welcome to Commonwealth Police Watch E-magazine

Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative E-magazine

Vol.1 December 2004

Inside:

New Beginnings in Women Power

Police in Kenya are beginning to respond to high rates of crime against women even as they struggle to bring down violent crimes and improve performance. Recently released police statistics showed a steep rise in rapes, especially in the capital Nairobi where reported rapes cases jumped from 13 in September 2004 to 57 - a four-fold increase - in the very next month.

Largely unexplained, the jump in reporting could ironically be signaling greater confidence in police response. Nevertheless, in common with nearly all other jurisdictions, rape remains a very underreported crime because of the social stigma attached to it. The trauma of reliving the crime through rough investigations, interminable court cases and the limited likelihood of redress also make sure that the majority of women don't report the crime. One can safely assume the incidence of rape is much higher than figures show. So bad is the situation that it has prompted Kenyan lawmakers to consider a draft bill seeking chemical castration for rapists.

Women's groups have often attributed the weak laws in their country's statutory books to the increase in sexual crimes. Commenting on the recently passed 'Criminal Law Ammendment Act, which tightens the penalty for rape, from a maximum of 14 years imprisonment to a maximum of life sentence, Mary Njeri, of the Coalition of Violation Against Women' says, "The Act, passed by the government in July 2004, is too flawed and has no teeth to adequately punish offenders or deter would-be criminals."

Mrs. Alice M. W. Kagunda as the Senior Deputy Commissioner of Police

Source : The Kenya Police Review Magazine

Despite a long-standing commitment to introduce "rape desks" in 2002 Amnesty International's report, 'Rape the Invisible Crime' which said that no special provisions had been made "at police stations to make the police more responsive to gender-based crimes", Kenya is waking up to the reality of women related crimes just recently.

However, the situation in the capital at least may change with the Kenyan Police Force setting up its first ever police station especially for women and children. It will be managed by women police officers only. This decision comes in the wake of the appointment of Mrs. Alice M. W. Kagunda as the Senior Deputy Commissioner of Police. "Working in a male dominated police force has been a great challenge and I have had to work real hard," says Ms. Kagunda. This is the first time in Kenya's history that a woman holds the position of second in command in the Kenya Police.

Kilimani police station in Nairobi - one of the oldest in the country - is being converted to deal exclusively with the growing number of reported cases of rape, domestic violence and child abuse. Kilimani is located just a few meters away from the Nairobi Women's Hospital in Hurlingham, which deals specifically with cases of sexual assaults on women and young girls.

The new station, which will handle cases from Nairobi and its outlying areas, is set to be operational by the end of the year. Women police officers will be given special training at the Kenya Police College, Kiganjo, Nyeri on how to handle and investigate crimes against women and children.

The new police station is a welcome move but it is far from satisfying the demands of women groups who have long asked for changes in law, for institutionalised gender training for police officers across the board and for special gender desks in all police stations to enable women survivors to report the crime in privacy to trained officers.

The opening of one police station does not address the needs of other outlying provinces, which have also recorded marked increase in rape statistics. With nearly two thousand rapes reported across the country, police statistics bear testimony to the increasing vulnerability of Kenyan women.

Nevertheless the new all woman police stations are a good beginning and perhaps a trendsetter for policing across Kenya.

Evelyn Kamau

Copyright Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, New Delhi, India
Address: B-117, Ist Floor, Sarvodaya Enclave, New Delhi - 110017, India
Telephones: +(91)(11) 26528152, 26850523; Fax: +(91)(11) 26864688
Email: chriall@nda.vsnl.net.in

Credits
Jyoti Bhargava: Interface Design; Vaishali Mishra: Editor; Swayam Mohanty: Technical Direction;
Evelyn Kamau: Researcher; Maria Canineu: Researcher;
Maja Daruwala: Advisor; Murray Burt: Advisor

Important Notice
Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative tries to keep "Commonwealth Police Watch" as current as possible. It relies on far-flung contributors for materials, and tries to verify them, but it leaves responsibility for accuracy with its correspondents.