Sexual abuse is a crime that leaves lasting physical, emotional, and psychological scars on its victims. Understanding the legal channels available for sexual abuse victims is essential to empower them to seek justice and healing.
In addition to the legal avenues, the victims need to know how to preserve the evidence so that the perpetrator may be caught. They might need to present evidence in court for prosecution to happen after arresting the perpetrators.
Firstly, victims should not shower after being defiled or raped. They should however, visit the nearest medical facility and have the doctor examine them and write a conclusive report on vaginal bruises, tears and presence of semen. If one showers, the semen that would be used as evidence would be washed away. All these provisions will be part of prosecution’s evidence. After the doctor has examined them, they can offer emergency contraceptive pills provided the incident happened within 72 hours.
It is advisable to get someone to go with you to the police station for moral support and help when filing a statement within the 24 hours. In most circumstances, victims of sexual abuse are too traumatized within the first 24 hours to verbally state what happened, when and how. Furthermore, they may not want to report the incidence in the first place due to fear of stigma or lack of support.
The police will require the victim to write a statement on the violation that occurred. This statement will be recorded in the Occurrence Book (OB). A P3 will then be issued and filed by the police department. After the P3 has been filed, the department carry out their investigation and forward the file to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.
Subscribe to Switch TV
Once the matter has reached court, the victim will need an advocate who will play the role of a watching brief in the case. The watching brief ensures that the rights and interests of the victim are protected and considered. There are community based organisations and human rights organisations that support victims with pro bono lawyers. These lawyers may help the victim without asking for any fee.
There are families that may choose to solve the matter without going to court. Could be through monetary compensation, or exchange of products such as cows. In other rare instances, the families may ask the perpetrator to marry the victim since the perpetrator has already ‘damaged’ her reputation. It is however not acceptable nor applicable for mediation of such matters to happen outside of a court system.
The state has been trying to change the stigma around rape victims by inflicting harsh state measures to anyone who perpetrates the act. Though sufficient progress has been seen, with police stations no longer shaming the victims and medical officers knowing how to preserve evidence. There are still more strides to make to ensure that deterrence from the crime is emphasized and that victims feel secure enough to report the incidence one it happens.
Read Also: The Dark Side of Kenya: How safe are our Children from Sexual Predators?
