PART III Extent and Impact of Post Election Violence - Mars Group ...

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documentary about sexual violence in the Rift Valley. CARE Kenya also held a workshop for victims of sexual violence to explain what the Commission was doing and to find out who among them might be willing to testify before. Further, they provided counselling services to women and prepared them to testify before the Commission in addition to giving the Commission some recommendations to be followed when victims, most of whom were women, appeared before the Commission. Secondly, to ensure that the work on sexual violence was culturally sensitive and to allow the Commission to contact specialists as needed, the Sub- Cluster set up a committee, including a resident gender expert from UNIFEM, to work with the Commission’s investigators, and to identify and prepare victims who wanted to testify to the Commission. Thirdly, to encourage victims of sexual violence to come before the Commission and to make it less painful for them to speak to investigators and to the Commission, the Commission hired two female investigators who had experience in dealing with sexual violence against women in particular. They included one international police investigator and one Kenyan lawyer. Fourthly, the Commission made it a point to allow two lawyers to take part in its proceedings, who had experience in dealing with gender issues, the Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA) and the Centre for Advancement of Women and Children 202. They had opportunity to examine every witness appearing before the Commission, including government officials, the police, victims, and other interested parties, throughout our meetings all over the country. Their questions added another dimension to the Commission’s understanding of what had happened to women and other victims of sexual violence and the extent to which the government and others had assisted or failed to assist those in need. Fifthly, fully cognizant of the potential challenge of asking someone who had experienced sexual violence to relive it by testifying before the Commission decided to hire a full time 202 The Commission granted FIDA a limited standing as an intervener on 15 July 2008 and the Centre for the Advancement of Women and Children on 29 July 2008. Their terms are discussed in CIPEV, Hansard, vol 1, 9‐25 July 2008, p.228 and vol. 2, Naivasha, 28‐29 July 2008, p.1128. 241
psychologist to interact with and assist victims both before, during, and after they testified to the Commission. Collecting Evidence This Commission is the first investigation of electoral violence to focus on sexual violence. This contrasts with the Kiliku and Akiwumi Commissions which did not address it. As such, the Commission was in uncharted territory. Not only did it seek advice as noted above, but also tried to take account of the difficulty victims faced in coming forward. Some told the cluster group or investigators that they were ashamed of what had happened to them and did not want to discuss their experiences in public, fearing further humiliation. Others worried that if they testified in the open, their attackers might retaliate against them, as this increased the possibility of them being identified. Understanding that potential witnesses had suffered incalculable physical and psychological horrors from which they might never recover, the Commission arranged for private hearings, which also allowed victims to describe what had happened to them and enabled them to open up, in some cases to the point of naming their attackers. In short, the Commission and the Kenyan victims of sexual violence encountered issues similar to those faced elsewhere in the world when dealing with its aftermath. Even then, with all of the efforts to sensitize members of the Commission and provide a safe environment in which victims could testify, it was still difficult for victims to steel themselves and come forth to meet with the Commission. This accounts for the relatively small number of victims, 31 in all, who testified before the Commission or submitted statements, something the Commission understood and appreciated, but nevertheless regret given the strong belief by the Commission that the problem of sexual and gender based violence in the post election period merited more time in the Commission hearings. This not so unusual problem may also have been accentuated by the sad history of Kenya’s past electoral violence and the reality that perpetrators have not only gone unpunished, but have continued afterwards as powerful political figures. That sobering reality as well as the relative 242
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PART III Extent and Impact of Post Election Violence - Mars Group ...

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