Former Naivasha Member of Parliament, Jane Kihara, has lashed at women using the traditional dispute resolutions mechanisms in settling sexual assault cases.
Speaking during a gender violence workshop in Narasha village on Wednesday, Kihara said that a lot of sexual assault cases are going unreported especially in the Maasai community living within Naivasha.
Kihara said that the Maasai community has been opting for the “under the tree settlement’ instead of reporting the cases to the police.
She added that out of court settlement of sexual violence cases was hampering efforts being made by the government and the civil society to fight the vice.
“The government has done its bit by formulating the necessary laws to punish sexual violence offenders but so many cases get swept under the carpet because parents of most victims opt for an out of court settlement, something which denies most victims their deserved justice. When the offender is ordered to pay a number of cows to the parents of the victims what will stop him from assaulting another girl because he knows he will simply pay some few cows and he will be off the hook,” she said.
Kihara who is a human rights activist called on the community to help in stemming the rampant cases of sexual assault in the area by helping the government to punish the offenders.
“When your daughter or wife is assaulted it is important to report the case to the police so that they can act because they cannot act without information and that is the only way we are going to protect our girls and women from these predators,” said Kihara.
The forum was organized by the Gender violence recovery center to sensitize the community about the need of bringing to book sexual violence offenders.