Young girls at the mercy of sex pests as families insist on protecting dignity of the molesters

A rural community in western Kenya is seething with rage over the defilement of an eight-year-old girl by her uncle. The girl, now infected with HIV and syphilis, is said to have been threatened by the relative not to reveal the defilement. It is suspected that she was molested repeatedly over a short period in Vihiga.

That small rural community, sadly, is just one among many others scattered here who are dealing with rising cases of defilement. Child and legal experts attribute it to a culture of tolerance towards sexual violence on minors, which tends to protect the aggressor, mostly a relative or close family friend.

In the case of the Vihiga minor, for instance, relatives said she seemed to have been a soft target in the eyes of her uncle, who lived close by. It was only after her grandfather sensed something was wrong about her that she revealed what had been happening.

Her uncle, she said, first approached her as she was headed home from school some time in May this year. He led her to a latrine, where he attempted to molest her and threatened to stab her should she report the incident to anyone.

His prey marked, the man kept on monitoring the girl’s movement, and he eventually had his way with her.

“I was heading home from school one day when I ran into him,” said the girl. “He told me he wanted to send me on an errand and I followed him. But he pushed me inside the latrine, got in and locked it from inside.”

He then made it a habit, repeatedly waylaying her on her way home from school and locking her inside the latrine, defiling her, and warning her to stay mum about it. Because of her age, and probably the fear the uncle induced in her, she did not tell anyone.

Her body, however, could not keep the secret, and when infection set in, her grandfather noticed that she had difficulties walking and asked her grandmother to investigate. After assuring the minor that no one would harm her, and that she would be safe in her hands, the girl opened up.

“We were angered by what we heard and immediately confronted the man,” the girl’s grandmother (62), who is currently taking care of her, told DN2 last week. “But he chased us away and threatened to kill anyone who reported the matter to the authorities.”

Medical tests confirmed that the girl had indeed been defiled. As if that was not traumatising enough for the family, an HIV test turned positive. The girl is now on antiretroviral treatment.

The family reported the matter to the police, but the man was released for lack of evidence as the crime, committed over a long period but hushed up in an atmosphere of threats, had not been reported within a window that allowed officers to carry conclusive investigations and nail the molester.

“It was a very agonising turn of events for me,” said the grandmother. “The man who had molested my grand-daughter and ruined her life had just walked scot-free, and there was nothing I could do about it.

TABOO CHILD

“Luckily, he was later arrested after he attempted to defile a five-year-old girl, and is now serving a 45-year sentence and Kodiaga Prison.”

Less than a kilometre away from this tormented village, Mary* will be giving birth in October. Unlike other mothers, though, she will not be allowed to breastfeed her child.

Despite carrying the pregnancy to term and suffering through labour pains, Mary will not even have the time to bond with her baby.

When the day comes, the family plans to take her to hospital, ensure she gives birth safely, and then abandon the baby at the hospital. And that will be the end of the extremely short and painful relationship between mother and child.

Mary (14), is a victim of incest and defilement by her paternal uncle, and the culture here does not allow her to take care of the offspring of such a taboo relationship.

Fighting back tears, she says her first sexual encounter with the uncle happened in a nearby bush as she collected firewood.

“He grabbed my mouth and held my jaw firmly in his grip,” she says. “I was horrified.”

She attempted to scream, but the man told her that should she as much as raise a whimper, he would strangle her to death.

From then on, the man made a habit of waylaying the girl and defiling her. The village, unfortunately, remained in the dark, and so a scared and scarred Mary suffered in silence; until she got pregnant.

Her rural community, however, will not allow her to keep the baby. Christopher Mudavadi, an 82-year-old Maragoli elder, explains that Luhya traditions dictate that when a baby is born out of incest, “it is not required to make the first cry anywhere close to the community”.

If the baby cries, says Mr Mudavadi, “the clan is doomed”. He says that in the past, children born of such relationships were either killed or thrown away in the bush.

Such offspring, he continues, is “unwanted” not just by the family, but also the entire village and community.

Once village elders become aware of a woman carrying the pregnancy of a close relative, they advise that she is escorted to a far place where the community will not see her and her baby. Normally, she is taken to a relative who lives far away from the village.

The incestuous man is then summoned by the elders and ordered to produce a cow in penance. A ceremony is called and a different clan called in to feast on the cow, after which the man is deemed cleansed.

Mudavadi says that, as times evolve and the rule of law becomes more pervasive, the community has changed from killing the infants to abandoning them.

Because she is not allowed to be seen traipsing through the village tracks while pregnant with her uncle’s baby, Mary will be transferred to an aunt’s place, from where she will be taken to hospital once she starts labouring.

WARPED TRADITIONS

Her uncle was arrested after the crime became public knowledge, but he was released from police custody on the request of the clan, which said it wanted to deal with the matter traditionally. The man has since disappeared from home.

“I was told that should anything happen to my elder brother, I would be responsible, so I requested the police to release him,” says Mary’s father.

These two children are among hundreds of girls who have been defiled, a considerable number of them by close relatives, in Vihiga County. Their predicament also thrusts them into conflict with their communities because of existing beliefs and traditions on incest, exposing them to inhumane treatment which appears not only rampant, but generally condoned.

Traditions around coerced sex in a largely patriarchal society also shield the victims from justice. Mary and the numerous girls here, therefore, are not just victims of beastly men, but also a cruel society that has refused to let go of its warped traditions.

The result is a generation of young girls nursing traumatic experiences into adulthood.

According to the children’s office in Vihiga County, 32 cases of defilement were reported here alone in the second quarter of the year. Majority of the cases (28 out of 32) were incest-related; the victims were aged between three and 15. Villagers told DN2 that boda boda operators were behind the high number of incest cases in the county.

“Relatives and drunkards are linked to defilement cases in this region,” says Vihiga County police coordinator, Elisha Odhiambo. “However, a majority of cases go unreported because many families opt to settle the matter at home. We have, however, directed the police not to allow such community interferences in reported cases.”

Girls aged between three and eight years are particularly at risk here because of a perverted notion that sex with a minor heals HIV/Aids.

Research by IPAS Africa Alliance, a lobby for reproductive rights, found that Vihiga County had one of the highest incidences of defilement in 2014 in Kenya. The area still records an average of five cases of defilement and incest daily, despite efforts by the county to curb the vice.

According to a 2013 survey by the Kenya Medical Research Institute (Kemri), a vast majority of minors in the county have been sexually violated.

VILLAGE CASANOVAS

So grave is the situation that it has attracted the attention of Chief Justice Willy Mutunga. During a visit to the county in March this year, Dr Mutunga said the high number of reported cases of defilement in the county pointed to a crisis that needed immediate attention.

Dr Mutunga also warned boda boda operators, saying they had earned themselves a dubious reputation as “village Casanovas”, and cautioned that such cases were also rampant in the neighbouring counties of Bungoma and Kakamega.

“Defilement is turning into a crisis that needs to be addressed,” Dr Mutunga said.

Addressing the public on the same issue at Vihiga law courts, the Chief Justice called on elders, parents and teachers to join in the fight against the sexual abuse of children.

Grace Mmasi, the Vihiga Senior Principal Magistrate, said most cases of defilement heard in her court had either relatives or teachers as the suspected aggressors, but lamented that families had become the biggest impediments to justice as they always applied to have the cases withdrawn from courts.

“My advice to the public is to report the cases and avoid settling them at home,” said Mmasi. “Many victims of incest also fail to report the crime, a worrying tendency that such cases share with rape.”

Among the reported victims of incest, girls outnumber boys by approximately ten to one, even though it is suspected that the number of abused boys may be under-reported.

Data indicates that the earlier the victim is abused, the more repressed the memory. Younger victims, thus, are more prone to have “forgotten” their earlier experiences, and so are unable to report them.

Grim number

32 caseS of defilement reported at the Vihiga children’s office in the second quarter of this year alone. Out of these, 28 involved family members and close relatives. Among the reported victims of incest, girls outnumber boys by approximately ten to one, even though it is suspected that the number of abused boys may be under-reported. Data indicates that the earlier the victim is abused, the more repressed the memory. Younger victims, thus, are more prone to have “forgotten” their earlier experiences, and so are unable to report them.

The law says...

Sections 20 and 21 of the Sexual Offenses Act say the offense of incest can be committed by both males and females. The law further says that the penalty for incest or attempted incest is a minimum of 10 years imprisonment, or life imprisonment in the case where one of the involved parties is a minor. However, a judge may be lenient on two consenting adults if it is proved that they had no knowledge of a blood relationship between them prior to the sexual relationship.

Victims need special care

Prof Maasasabi Masinde, head of the sociology department at Moi University, told DN2 that the increase of incest cases was an indication that caregivers were losing traction. He explained that victims of paternal incest endure more emotional, physical, self-identity and inter-personal difficulties during and shortly after the incest cases are terminated. “We are living in a society where men see minors as mature women, more so when they are drunk,” Prof Masinde said, and warned that if the victims are not exposed to proper counselling, their relationships with men and sexuality are likely to be adversely affected. A number of emotional problems may emerge from the abuse, said Masinde, including inability to trust and avoidance of both intimacy and emotional bonding.

* Names changed to protect the identities of victims.