Inside the law that seeks to bar sex offenders from employment

Sexual offenders could soon face employment barriers if proposed amendments to the Sexual Offences Act sail through.

The Sexual Offences Amendment Bill, fronted by Cradle, a child rights organization, could compel employers to ensure new hires don't have a sexual offence history. It also proposes making the sexual offenders' list public and barring foreign sexual offenders from Kenya.

Recently, foreigners accused of child abuse, with some convicted, have emerged.

Read: Seal all loopholes in sexual offences law

Should amendments pass, traditional dispute resolution, known as Kangaroo courts, would be prohibited. This traditional resolution system is rampant in Northern Kenya where it is referred to as Maslaha system.

The system has been blamed for denying survivors justice through out-of-court settlements negotiated by elders, perpetrators, and families.

Garissa is one of the counties where Kangaroo courts perpetuate sexual violence against women and girls.

Gender and Culture executive Hawa Abdi, in an interview with Nation.Africa, reveals that the Maslaha system impedes justice, noting that perpetrators use the system to shield offenders and deny survivors justice.

“The elders and the clan where the perpetrators come from usually go to an extent of raising funds to buy victims’ and their families’ silence. The money is usually used to settle the matter out of court, thus denying survivors justice,” she says.

Proposed amendments

"It's disturbing seeing perpetrators roam free while victims suffer," she says.

The proposed changes in the law envision the establishment of police-run gender desks in public hospitals and safe houses for victims. The current law has been faulted for having glaring gaps including the omission of offences like sodomy, marital rape and public sexual acts.

Cradle Executive Director Michael Wesonga backs the amendments, noting that when the law was passed in 2006, social and technological issues were not as advanced as they are today.

“We didn’t have scenarios where people shared inappropriate images on social media or blackmailing their friends with photos that were initially taken in good faith,” said Wesonga at a forum convened to discuss the Bill recently.

Evade justice

Grace Wangari, a former domestic worker and survivor, welcomes the changes.

“It will help to seal the gaps that the perpetrators have been using to evade justice. We need to make the law so tight that no perpetrator will get away with it,” she says.

Read: Court ruling on the sentencing of sexual offenders a recipe for crisis

Ms Wangari, who now champions access to justice for survivors, notes the amendments will help eliminate glaring loopholes.

“I recently witnessed a case where a mother sought assistance from an organisation after her daughter was assaulted by a neighbour. Unfortunately, the reporting process was challenging. They were required to provide evidence, and the young girl was asked to demonstrate the act committed, causing further humiliation to both mother and daughter," she opines.

Senator Gloria Orwoba supports tightening the law against online and technology-facilitated sexual violence and screening potential employees.

“Making employers have the duty of care by screening potential employees of sexual offences will help us curb sexual harassment, for example, in public service vehicles,” Ms Orwoba says.

Women and girls continue suffering teenage pregnancies, female genital mutilation, and rape. World Health Organisation estimates 40.7 per cent of Kenyan women experience lifetime physical/sexual violence, higher than the global average.

A 2018 study found 32 per cent of young women aged 18-24 and 18 per cent of men reported experiencing sexual violence before the age of 18.

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