How elders enable sex pests to evade justice

Jane Atieno (not her real name) was a budding 15-year-old girl dreaming of becoming a graduate teacher.

As she prepared for her KCPE exams, Atieno was defiled. When she missed her period, she took a pregnancy test. Not only did the results turn out positive, the soon-to-be father fled.

She had hoped that her aunt, who was her guardian, would take care of her baby to enable her to resume school. But that was not to be.

Overwhelmed by the burden of raising the baby, she agreed to get married to another man who was not the father of her child. 

We met Atieno at her marital home in Unga village in Ndhiwa Sub-County, Homa Bay.

“I conceived in 2021 at the age of 15 when I was in Class Eight and dropped out of school. I resorted to marriage because nobody could take care of my baby,” she said.

She claimed she did not know the name of the man who impregnated her.

“The man used to occasionally give me Sh200. But I don’t know his name,” she said.

When asked probing questions about the identity of the man, she kept quiet.

Atieno’s failure to reveal the name of the man who defiled her is an example of the impact of Kangaroo courts in the area.

A Kangaroo court refers to a situation where communities settle gender based violence (GBV) cases without subjecting the perpetrators to the criminal justice system.

In the arrangement, the family of the perpetrator engages elders in the survivor’s family for a settlement. The family of the perpetrator offers property or money as compensation to the survivor’s kin.

If the survivor’s family accepts the offer, the case is settled and no one is expected to report the matter to the authorities.

This gives the GBV perpetrators leeway for escaping legal action despite the harm they cause to the survivors.

When journalists visited Ndhiwa Sub-county Hospital, medics revealed that Kangaroo courts contribute to defilement and teenage pregnancies in the area.

Benard Otieno, the Clinical Officer in charge of Ndhiwa Sub-County Hospital, said Kangaroo courts impede justice for many victims of defilement in the area.

“Kangaroo courts compromise survivors. This leads to failure to report incidents or the destruction of evidence that can be used to prosecute the perpetrators,” Otieno said.

He narrated an incident where nine people were arrested in 2023 Ndhiwa after signing an agreement to settle a defilement case in the office of Ndhiwa OCS.

“The family of the perpetrator promised to compensate the survivor’s family with a cow. The survivor’s family was skeptical and demanded that they sign an agreement at Ndhiwa Police Station. The OCS tricked them and after they had appended their signatures, he arrested all the nine and took them to court,” Otieno said.

Otieno’s concern is that Kangaroo courts stand in the way of reporting of defilement cases.

“Kangaroo courts are jeopardizing the fight against defilement in this Sub-county. Some cases end up unreported while others are reported but the perpetrators compromise the survivors families, subverting the rule of law,” Otieno said.

The Deputy Nursing Officer in charge of the hospital Hellen Onyango said defilement results in many teen pregnancies and HIV infections among adolescents in the area.

According to Onyango, the hospital data indicates that a total of 200 girls gave birth in the hospital between January and May this year.

The data also revealed that 214 girls attended ante-natal clinic in the hospital between January and March this year.

Onyango said that out of the 200, 35 turned out to be HIV positive. Meanwhile, 40 among the 214 girls who attended anti-natal clinic were HIV positive.

“The above figures paint a grim picture of how the triple threat threatens our community,” Onyango said.

Triple threat refers to HIV infections, gender-based violence and adolescent pregnancies.

Data from the latest Kenya Demographic and Health Survey report indicate that prevalence of teenage pregnancies stands at 23.2 per cent in Homa Bay County. This is way higher than the national prevalence of 14.8 per cent.

Caregivers expressed concern over the difficulties they experience when minors become pregnant.

“I took care of my niece who became pregnant at the age of 11. Teenage pregnancy makes life difficult for a parent or guardian because both the young mother and her baby are children. Thus, we are forced to take care of a child and her baby,” said Irene Achieng.

The Co-ordinator of GBV in Ndhiwa Sub-county Dominic Nguka said the response against triple threat requires concerted efforts.

“Triple threat is a serious problem in Ndhiwa. There are some interventions in place but we are calling for joint efforts among all stakeholders to enable us to end the menace,” Nguka said.

Homa Bay County Department of Health’s Research, Learning and Innovation Co-ordinator Justus Ochola said revenge and poverty are some of the contributors to defilement of girls in the area.

“Our research reveals that some girls end up being defiled when their parents fail to pay for motorbike rides to school. Some boda boda riders defile girls,” Ochola said.

He urged residents to stop Kangaroo courts and report defilement cases to the authorities.

“Let anybody whose child is defiled seek legal redress. Punishing the offenders will enable us to reduce the triple threat significantly,” Ochola said.