Opinion: Awareness key to stem rape in schools, society

A parent reacts after learning the whereabouts of her child at Moi girls secondary school

School rapes and state corruption compete for our attention and action. Besides Moi Girls Secondary in Nairobi, there were at least four other reported cases of school basedrape this week.

The national attention they have generated gives us an opportunity to reflect again on why we are not winning the war against child abuse. Kenya has ratified the most important child rights protection international laws. Sadly, we know from experience that neither international and national laws guarantee the safety of our children without concerted enforcement.

By the time 71 girls were raped and 19 girls were killed by male students in St Kizito Secondary School in 1991, we had signed the United Nations Convention of the Rights of the Child. Hopefully, St Kizito’s former Deputy Head-teacher Joyce Kithira is wiser now and regrets her infamous comments at the time, “The boys never meant any harm to the girls, they just wanted to rape them”.

Neither the UN Convention, the African children’s rights charter or Article 53 of our Constitution have been able to stop these frightening incidents and trends. More than ten cases of rape and defilement have occurred every day for the last three years.

Rape and defilement cases are more than one and half times more likely to occur than cases of economic crimes and corruption according to the 2018 Economic Survey. Yes, there is something more dangerous than the catastrophe of “Grabbiosis”.

How we treated the case of Nairobi Moi Secondary School speaks volumes where we are as a society. There were the allegations of the Matron’s delayed responses to the student’s cries for help and then clumsy attempt to cover up the incident and bribe the students with bursaries.

Then the confusion around the first medical examination that initially found the girls had not been raped and molested. Before investigations were even concluded, the National Disaster Management Unit, Nairobi County and armed police brought down 300 Toi market stalls 500 meters from the school. Their knee jerkand possibly opportunistic action violated Government guidelines on forced evictions and resettlement.

The active engagement of parents and the Ministry to dissolve and elect new Board of Governors and the Parents Association is welcome. It remains to be seen whether the Ministry will pursue Head Teacher Jael Muriithi or her staff for probable maladministration after the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) allowed her to proceed on early retirement. There must be consequences for that night of violence.

Other rape cases were also reported in schools across the country. It is worth remembering that TSC has deregistered 262 male teachers over the last three years. Besides non-consensual sex, sex for marks, pocket money or mobile-phones is also prevalent. It also has to stop. The lack of safety in our 29,000 schools mirrors our broader society. It is unacceptable that in 2018, women and girls walking to toilets in our urban settlements or to fetching water in our rural villages risk sex based violence.

We must invest in building communities that can recognise and are ready to report and act on violations. Like the brave Moi Girls Secondary School girls, they have to know that their parents, alumni, civic organisations, media and their Government will protect them.

The new curriculum commits to creating empowered, ethical and engaged students, parents and school administrators. We can also learn from organisations like Amnesty’s human rights friendly schools and Ujamaa Africa’s Moment of Truth programs.

Ujamaa Africa has successfully reduced cases of verbal harassment and rape by coaching boys to shift their sense of entitlement over female student’s bodies towards respect and protection. By building greater awareness, vigilance and a ready to report culture supported by safe complaint mechanisms, we can defeat rape in our schools and the wider society.