dc.description.abstract | There are increased cases of rape against women and girls in Kenya despite the efforts
that are being made to prevent its occurrences. This study was, therefore, designed to
answer the following questions: What are the individual motivational factors that increase
men's chances of raping women? What are the socio-cultural factors that may predispose
men to raping women? Accordingly, the overall objective of this study was to explore
and discuss the individual motivations and socio-cultural factors that predispose men to
acts of rape in Kenya. The specific objectives of the research were to determine the
individual motivations that may increase chances of men raping women and to
investigate the socio-cultural factors that may predispose men to committing the crime.
Data were collected using the survey method, case histories and key informant
interviews. In total, seventy-two inmates convicted of rape or attempted rape were drawn
from Naivasha, Kamiti and Nyeri Main Prisons and subjected to a structured
questionnaire. Unstructured interviews were undertaken with fourteen other inmates. This
was aimed at re-writing the convicts' history, past experiences, their upbringing and
socialization, and the individual motivations that may have prompted them to commit the
sexual offence. An additional fourteen death row inmates from Naivasha Prison were
subjected to a different set of a standardized questionnaire in which they gave their
demographic details and described the rape episodes that they were involved in. Twelve
key informants were subjected to in-depth interviews on the topic ofrape.
The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) was used in the analysis of the
quantitative data. On the other hand, qualitative data from open-ended questions was
organized and categorized on the basis of emerging themes which were then coded and
the data entered into the computer. The qualitative data collected through unstructured
and semi-structured interviews were sorted out, tabulated and interpreted in relation to
the research objectives. ~
The findings suggest that a number of factors may predispose a man to rape. These
factors could be either individual motivational factors, socio-cultural factors or a
combination of these. The individual motivational factors include the use of drugs like
alcohol and cannabis (bhang), marital problems which included conflicts with a spouse,
separation or death of a spouse, inability to negotiate for consensual sex, rape as a form
of sexual access, psychological factors like watching pornography and having rape
hallucinations, rape as a form of impersonal sex and power and rape as a tool of
punishing a woman. On the other hand, the socio-cultural factors include early childhood
environment, gender-based inequality in society and peer influence. Finally, other factors
identified that could predispose men to rape included occupation, poverty, place of
origin, ethnic affiliation and having sex with underage girlfriends . | en |