Report shows violence against women endemic in Kenya

The majority of Nairobi’s residents live in informal settlements and slums, inadequate housing with little access to lean water, sanitation, health care and other essential public services, a just released Amnesty International report has pointed out.

The report was released in Nairobi and is entitled: Insecurity and Indignity: Women’s experience in the Slums of Nairobi. The report for Kenya says women and girls in these informal settlements are particularly affected by lack of adequate access to sanitation facilities for toilets and bathing.

“Not only do women have different physical needs from men, (for example, related to menstruation) but they also have greater need of privacy when using toilets and when bathing,” adds the report whose research covered Nairobi’'s slums.

Inadequate and inaccessible toilets and bathrooms, as well as the general lack of effective policing and insecurity, make women even more vulnerable to rape and other forms of gender-based violence, says the report.

Violence against women is endemic in Nairobi’s slums and settlements, goes widely unpunished and significantly contributes to making and keeping women poor, adds the report.

The report has called on the Kenyan government to ensure equal protection under the law to all the people living in informal settlements including by applying and enforcing legislation requiring landlords to construct toilets and latrines and bathrooms in the immediate vicinity of each household.

The report has also called on the government to increase the levels of policing in the informal settlements by establishing police posts and ensuring other effective forms of policing in consultation with residents of the slums and settlements.

The government should institute other measures to improve security including by increasing the levels of street lighting in the informational settlements, the Amnesty International report has also recommended.

And to the international community, including the United Nations and key donors, the report has stressed the need to provide assistance to the Government of Kenya in fulfilling its obligations to guarantee the right to adequate housing especially in the context of women’s security and access to essential services in informal settlements, and ensure that such assistance is consistent with international standards on human rights.

Source: CISA