Quantitative research findings on
RAPE in Kenya between Dec.30th 2007
to June 30th 2008.
Reliability and validity of rape statistics_ Defining and distinguishing the crime of rape This study provides an overview of available literature on the prevalence and incidence of rape in Nairobi Kenya between
30th December 2007 and June 30th 2008, the response of the criminal justice system to such crimes and the characteristics_ of those who commit rape.This review focuses on quantitative rather than qualitative research. The latter type of research covers many important aspects of rape and its consequences, for example the experience of the victim, the extent of trauma, extent of confiding in others or seeking counselling etc. But these research findings are not easily quantifiable, therefore they are excluded from this review, which focuses on rape statistics_. 6 In this section, we distinguish between rape and other forms of violence against women. Rape has been defined in various ways including legal, psychological, sociological and subjective definitions. It is therefore necessary to define the term rape, as it is used in this document. All definitions are taken from (Sexual Offences ACT 2006). Firstly we look at gender-based violence, which the United Nations defines as: Any act… that results in, or is likely to result in physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or private life. Different categories of this crime include: abuse, sexual assault and rape. Abuse can take various forms including economic, emotional, physical or sexual. Sexual abuse is considered to be any unwanted physical invasion of an individual’s body that is sexual in nature. This abuse ranges from touching and kissing, through to forced oral sex, forced sexual penetration or rape and being forced to perform prostitution and bestial acts. Sexual assault, in legal terms is defined as the unlawful and intentional application of force to another person, or making the person believe that such force will immediately be applied, with the intent to commit the sexual act. Rape, according to Kenyan law, consists in a man having unlawful, intentional sexual intercourse with a woman without her consent. Sexual intercourse presupposes penetration of the female sexual organ by the male’s penis. Difficulties in collecting rape statistics_ Rape is a traumatic experience and a sensitive issue, and may be under-reported to fieldworkers during a survey no matter how carefully designed the survey is. This risk can be minimized by giving sensitivity training to fieldworkers by qualified people, for example counselors. But it remains difficult to ascertain the extent of under-reporting in a particular survey. The validity of results in any survey can, however, be tested against other surveys with similar research designs.