Turkana stakeholders raise alarm over rising defilement cases

"Young girls are our meat and source of wealth. If you tell us to take them to school or not to marry them at early age then you are denying us our primary source of livelihood," an old man at Oropoi village in Turkana West Sub-county shockingly revealed to Charles Mayamba, Kakuma Law Court Principal Magistrate.

Mr Mayamba has established that defilement, which is fuelled by harmful cultural beliefs in Turkana community, is being sweet coated as "early marriage" and to a large extent normalized.

According to statistics from the court, there are 22 pending defilement cases currently at an advanced stage.

"We realized that children’s rights were being violated and took it upon ourselves, as Kakuma Law Courts, to take the message of eliminating harmful practices against children in Turkana West Sub-county through access to justice' for the people," the magistrate said.

He said they have held public sensitization forums across the sub-county, since September 19, after realizing that through concerted efforts from relevant stakeholders, children’s rights can be protected at all times.

The stakeholders were at a loss on why they heard of many cases of child marriages in the sub-county, yet they were not seeing the cases in courts.

They are now banking on continuous public awareness forums to deal with the vice.

They have formed Kakuma Children Court Users Committee to ensure children’s rights are protected at all times and that they are not turned into wives at early age or engaged in child labour, but taken to school. The committee is chaired by Kakuma Law Courts Resident Magistrate Ivan Rono.

Turkana West Sub-county Police Commander Richard Moracha said 11 cases of gender-based violence (GBV) within Kakuma Refugee Camp and three from host community, were reported last month.

Mr Moracha said the minors are among the suspects, pointing at a case where a 17-year-old defiled a five-year-old.

"What is more shocking is that police officers are perpetrating sexual violence. A police officer is serving a 15-year jail term after he was found guilty of raping a refugee," he said.

Mr Moracha said with support from UN Women, Kakuma Police Station now has a gender desk, which helps handle sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) cases that occur in the refugee camps and surrounding areas, where women and girls are highly vulnerable to rights violations.

"We have, in partnership with organizations and relevant state departments, taken our police officers through trainings so that they understand how to deal with children and other vulnerable groups," the police boss said.

People in authority were warned against taking advantage of their positions to commit GBV on children and vulnerable groups.

According to UN Women, one in three women worldwide experience physical or sexual violence, mostly by an intimate partner.

The global champion for women and girls, states that violence against women and girls is a human rights violation, and the immediate and long-term physical, sexual, and mental consequences for women and girls can be devastating, including death.

Men and boys

UN Women is partnering with governments, UN agencies, civil society organizations and other institutions to find ways to prevent violence against women and girls, focusing on early education, respectful relationships, and working with men and boys as prevention, is still the most cost-effective, long-term way to stop violence.

"As part of UN Women’s comprehensive approach, we also work with partners to enhance data collection and analysis to provide a better understanding of the nature, magnitude, and consequences of violence against women and girls. Data collection and analysis also helps UN Women and our partners understand what works and doesn’t work to address this violence," the UN agency states.

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