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Lawyers: Three women raped daily in Mt Elgon
THE STANDARD
24.04.2007
By Isaiah Lucheli
An average of three women are raped daily by security forces in clash-torn Mt Elgon District, the Federation of Women Lawyers in Kenya has said.
Fida Executive Director, Ms Jane Onyango, said investigations in Kopsiro area indicate that every day an average of three women, who say they have been raped by men in uniform, visit mobile health clinics.
Their plight has further been aggravated by the closure of public health facilities in the constituency, Onyango said. "Our investigations have established that women are being targeted and majority of them are suffering in silence. They cannot report the matter for fear of repeat attacks by the security agents," she said.
When Fida visited Kopsiro area, women complained that members of the security forces operating in the area assaulted them sexually.
Counselling and legal aid
They also said they were afraid of reporting the matter for fear of harassment by the police officers.
On Monday, Onyango said Fida would dispatch counsellors and lawyers to offer counselling and legal aid to the affected women to facilitate the arrest and prosecution of the implicated officers.
Said she: "It is hard for the affected women to seek legal intervention as the perpetrators of the vice are police officers. Fida will take up the matter and ensure they are arrested."
Onyango said the closure of public health facilities in the district had greatly affected access to emergency medical services for women in the district, particularly the rape victims.
"We even have cases of expectant women failing to get medical attention, which has greatly put their lives at risk," she
said.
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