Study shows toilets expose women to rape in slums

By Lucianne Limo

Amnesty International (AI) report raises a red flag on how women and girls in Nairobi slums are sexually assaulted while using communal toilet and bathroom facilities.

The report shows inadequate and inaccessible toilets and bathrooms and lack of policing and insecurity make women more vulnerable to rape and other forms of gender violence.

For fear of attack while using these facilities after dark, women either stay for days without a shower or bath in the house and use ‘flying toilets’ to relieve themselves.

"Women in slums become prisoners in their own homes at night and some times before it is dark. They need more privacy than men when going to the toilet or taking a bath and the inaccessibility of facilities make them vulnerable to rape, leaving them trapped in their own homes," said Godfrey Odongo, AI East Africa researcher.

The report titled ‘Insecurity and Indignity: Women’s experiences in the slums of Nairobi’ calls on the Government to urgently address the issue.

Criminal patrols

"The Government should enforce the law requiring all landlords especially in the informal sector to construct toilets and bathrooms in the immediate vicinity of each household," said Odongo.

According to the report, only 24 per cent of slum residents have access to toilet facilities at household level.

"Women cannot go to the toilet after six in the evening because criminal gangs patrol the area. It is even sad to note that these public toilets are few and far between and involve walking long distances," said Odongo while realising the report at All Africa Conference of Churches yesterday.

"I no longer use the communal toilet after I was raped by two men who pounced on me after visiting the toilet," said a 52-year old resident of Mathare slums.

She was accosted by two young men who lurked behind the shadows of darkness and raped her repeatedly leaving her for dead.

She said she was too ashamed to report to the police or seek medical attention because she was embarrassed of how her children would react.

The report points out that most women interviewed knew their attackers and feared reporting them to the police for fear of reprisal.

"I was taking a shower at seven in the evening when I heard a group of men approaching my bathroom and before I knew it, they had pushed the door and forced themselves in," recalled Elizabeth of Korogocho slums.

"I screamed and three of them took off while the forth one whom I knew, held a knife on my neck and threatened to kill me if I report to police," said the mother of seven.

She said when she informed her husband of the attack, he laughed it off telling her to stop pretending, as those men were her boyfriends.

The report notes that although the Government has made attempts to upgrade slums, the same has not been extended to improving the access of public services like sanitation.