Reporting Rape Cases at Police Stations in Kenya: Human Rights Dimensions of Survivors Experiences in Nairobi County

Abstract

This project presents findings of the study on the human rights dimensions of the experiences of those who report rape cases in Nairobi County, Kenya. The main objective was to explore how rape cases’ reporting at police stations is conducted, the survivors’ experiences and how this affects their human rights. The study assumed that the procedures for reporting rape are not followed and the human rights of the survivors were violated. Descriptive research design was adopted. All adult survivors of rape living in Nairobi County formed the population. The study employed the Theory of Planned Behaviour (PBH) which uses attitudes, social norms, perception behavioral control (PBC) as model factors to assess their relationship with intent to report a crime. The relevance of the theory to this study was the fact that it facilitated an understanding of what could influences rape survivors resolve to report or not to report rape ordeals. The Snowball sampling was used to select 100 survivors of rape who were involved in the study. The study used the survey method with a semi-structured questionnaire as the tool to collect data from the sampled subjects. The questionnaire was supplemented by key informant interviews. Quantitative data obtained from the questionnaire analyzed through computation of descriptive statistics like mean, standard deviation, percentages and frequency distributions. Graphical and tabular presentation of the findings was used. Qualitative data was organized systematically under various themes. Information collected from the key informant interviews was transcribed, analyzed thematically, and presented in a narrative form. The study found that majority of the respondents who reported their cases to the police as advised by their family and friends to whom they initially reported to but overall, most did not proceed to report or gave up on the process. The main finding was that during reporting, the survivors felt that their rights were infringed upon because of the treatment they received from the police at the station. The study also found that the reporting procedures were ineffective and discriminatory hence discouraging for the survivors to seek justice to its logical conclusion. The study also found that majority of those who did not report were male survivors of rape. It is recommended that proper structures and investment be put in place to empower and enable the law enforcers to handle cases of rape as well as other forms of sexual violence professionally. Additionally, it is recommended that further research is conducted on this topic and on male survivors of rape.