| dc.description.abstract | Gender based violence is a profound health problem
worldwide. It displays regional, cultural and ethni
c
differences and is a significant cause of morbidity
and mortality. Data from Kenya are however, scarce
.
This was a retrospective study at the gender recove
ry centre of the Nairobi Women’s hospital, Nairobi,
Kenya. Patient records between January 2005 and Jun
e 2010 were examined for age, gender,
perpetrator features and nature of violence. The da
ta collected were analysed using a statistical
program SPSS version 18 for Windows 7 and presented
in pie and bar charts. Ten thousand seven
hundred and forty eight (944 males and 9604 females
) cases were reviewed. The mean age of the
survivors was 19 (range 3-90) years. Male: female r
atio was 1:9. In 66% of the cases, the perpetrator
was
known to the victim. The types of violence were; se
xual (85%), physical (13%) and both physical and
sexual (2%). Gender violence in Kenya is predominan
tly sexual, against females, but with a substantial
number of male victims. It occurs mainly in under 3
0s, and most perpetrators are known. Control
measures should be targeted to young individuals of
both genders. | |
