Nakuru women now want the government and the Inspector General of Police (IG) to remove all male police officers manning the gender desk and replace them with women.
The women claim that reporting issues related to gender based violence and rape has always been complicated as men did not understand their feelings.
“Often times when one goes to report, the men there end up laughing and calling the others so that they can hear your story too. This is demeaning and frustrating,” said Miriam Anyango.
She was speaking during a public forum at Old Town hall on Thursday afternoon where she cited that many of the women were often forced to refrain from reporting such cases to the police for fear of intimidation.
“Increasingly, women have opted not to talk about the issues for fear of being laughed at or ridiculed. In some cases, they are asked silly questions by the men manning the desks. This intimidation often leads to self-condemnation,” she added.
Josephine Nyokabi pointed out that most of the policemen were not sensitive and hence describing or even exposing some of their wounds was impossible.
“A female police officer would be better placed to even assess the wounds that are inflicted on us,” she added.
The women raised a red flag over the increased cases of sodomy in the area, citing that majority of the boys who were assaulted remained silent over the trauma.