The nine-year-old who became a mother—and the justice system that failed her
A GBV survivor. A nine-year-old girl was defiled and impregnated by her uncle in Suba South, Homa Bay County.
What you need to know:
- Senate has investigated delayed defilement case after a Kenyan lodged a complaint over a defilement case dragging in court.
- Judiciary understaffing and mobile court limitations have been hindering justice for young girl defiled by her uncle.
Girl was defiled and impregnated when she was nine; she is now 13.
Stella* was hoping that by now, the person who defiled her daughter would have been jailed as punishment for the offence he committed. Her daughter was defiled and impregnated four years ago. She was nine when she conceived.
Now at 13 and with her three-year-old child, she has yet to get justice. The incident happened in Kigoto, Suba South, Homa Bay County, in 2021.The girl was transferred to a safe house.
The perpetrator is the survivor’s paternal uncle. He was arrested, charged, and the case has been underway at Mbita Law Courts since. Over the period, there have been attempts to interfere with the case, with both Stella and her daughter facing intimidation.
In Kenya, sexual offence cases can take months or years, depending on the complexity of a case, availability of evidence, and efficiency of the legal system. Delays and adjournments are common and can affect the outcome.
For Stella, her daughter’s case should have been concluded. However, she may need to wait longer as the court has been facing challenges that slow down the judicial process.
One magistrate handles multiple cases at Mbita Law Courts, some from as far as Remba Island near the Kenya-Uganda border. The Senate Justice, Legal Affairs and Human Rights Committee discovered that this is one of the main obstacles delaying cases, pointing out the case involving Stella’s daughter. The committee, led by Chairman Hillary Sigei, was on a fact-finding mission on Friday last week.
The committee's trip to Homa Bay came after a whistleblower shared information about the delayed case. The team also heard that Stella was being intimidated with the intention of weakening the case. Nominated Senator Catherine Muma, who first received the information before sharing it with the committee, said the survivor was also being harassed.
“I … asked that the matter be referred to the Justice, Legal and Human Rights Committee to investigate and find out the facts,” she said.
According to the legislator, their mission established that the facts presented to them were correct. Citing their findings, Ms Muma said several challenges hamper the case. The challenges should be addressed by the national and county governments, she said.
“We are going to speak to different people to create a system that can prevent the next nine-year-old from experiencing what this nine-year-old child has gone through,” she added.
Mr Sigei said their findings revealed that the case had been delayed because of challenges the Judiciary is facing, including shortage of staff and facilities. The case is being handled by a mobile court, which sits in Magunga at least once a week. “The Judiciary has acknowledged that they need more findings to hire more magistrates. It is one of the things we will write in our report,” the Bomet senator added.
He said the information they gathered will help the committee to push for progress of the case and others that are dragging. “The case is not only limited to Homa Bay. The statistics show a sorry state of such cases,” he said.
*Name changed to protect the identities of the mother and her daughter and grandchild.