Castration Bill won’t do, say activists

Activists have condemned a Bill that proposes castration of rapists.

County Assembly Majority Leader Cromwell Baridi tabled the Bill saying it would help reduce rape and defilement cases, but activists say it is an archaic proposal that would “take us back”.

Maendelo ya Wanawake chairperson Rahab Mwikali said the county assembly should not rush to make such a law.

“I understand — as a mother — that feeling of wishing to castrate the offender but we have to look at it on a case-by-case basis to determine the kind of punishment to be meted,” she said.

Mr Nderitu Njoka of Maendeleo ya Wanaume said only “weird male” leaders could propose such a Bill.

He said both boys and girls were victims of defilement, hence it was unfair to make laws targeting one gender.

“If we want to castrate men, then also put a law cutting off the breasts of women who defile our young boys,” he said.

He said his organisation conducted a research in June and established that an average of 500 boys below the age of 18 were defiled daily. Of those, only 10 per cent were reported, he said.

The activists said the issue should be approached with care with a focus on causes.

Mr Baridi had argued the law was necessary to stem the rise in defilement, rape and sodomy in the region.

He said the community was frustrated by the inability of authorities to end the vice while nothing else seemed to be working.

The proposal to castrate men convicted of defilement would act as a deterrent to people who would be sexual offenders, he argued.