Students in Maseno University were on Wednesday sensitised on sexual harassment.
This happened during a Rape and Gender based summit organised by the Counselling Department at the University’s graduation square.
The summit sought to equip the students with useful information on what to do if by any chance one of them happened to be victim of rape.
It also equipped the students with knowledge on how to help relatives or friends who have been raped.
Speaking at the event, Dr Karen Nyangara from the Institution’s Institute of Gender Studies she said that in case one was raped, the immediate thing to be done is to rush to a Health Clinic.
She said that one should avoid taking a bath and also changing of clothes.
“This will lead to lose of evidence needed by the clinicians and the police,” she said.
Dr Nyangara said the Health Clinic will then do the necessary examinations and then send the report to the Institute of Gender Office.
The Office will then forward the report to the police where investigations into the case will start.
“This process is referred to as the Referral Pathway,” she said.
The students were urged to report any cases of sexual harassment they may encounter from fellow students or even lectures.
The ladies were urged to dress decently.
According to Dr. Karen, indecent dress codes made women more vulnerable to rape cases.
They were also urged to embrace walking in groups especially during wee hours besides avoiding situations that may expose them to rape such as partying.
The males were also told that they were also vulnerable to rape from women as such cases have of-late been reported.
They were nonetheless told to exercise high levels of self-control as the current penalty to rapists in Kenya is life sentence.