Don't mediate rape cases, Wajir woman rep tells chiefs

Wajir County woman representative Fatuma Gedi has cautioned chiefs against mediating in cases of sexual violence meted on schoolgoing girls.

Speaking at Griftu Primary School, Ms Gedi said that all the perpetrators of sexual violence should be subjected to the law.

Ms Gedi said chiefs play a key role in fighting the vice against girls since they are the first to receive such reports.

The woman representative blamed maslaha, an alternative system of dispute resolution mechanism, on the rising cases of sexual violence in the county that she said have contributed to early pregnancies and high school dropout rates.

“The more we employ the use of maslaha on issues of rape and other forms of violence, the more it becomes harder to prevent such incidences,” she said.

Ms Gedi, further, promised to continue providing sanitary towels to school girls to ensure none of them miss classes.