A good number of women and girls who were raped did not receive appropriate treatment. [Photo|borgenproject.org]
A lobby has raised alarm over increasing cases of poor handling of rape victims.
The Human Rights Watch (HRW) report on Sexual Violence against Women and Girls in Kenya during the 2017 elections puts health facilities on the spot for handling rape victims unprofessionally.
"Health workers in many cases did not adequately inform women and girls about the full range of treatment they needed after rape, which is key for facilitating access to further health services and referrals," states the report seen by The Standard, on Monday.
It was found that a good number of women and girls, who were raped in the electioneering period, did not receive appropriate treatment.
"Some said they were just given painkillers, antibiotics, emergency contraception, or tested for HIV," states the report.
Some victims told HRW that they were not sure of what kind of treatment they received.
"Very few survivors received quality post-rape counselling," it further reports.
All this happen, the report notes, despite Kenya having clear guidelines on how to handle rape victims, many workers in health facilities have no clue on the first line of treatment to administer.
In a few cases, however, HRW noted that rape victims did not disclose their ordeal to health workers.