Laws and Policies on SGBV

There are a number of Laws and policies in Kenya that guards, protects, advocates and Champions the Issues Surrounding Sexual Gender Based Violence.

Laws

These Includes the following;.

• The Constitution 2010 
• The Penal code 
• The Criminal Procedure Code 
• The Children's Act (2001) 
• The FGM Act( 2011) 
• The Sexual Offences Act (2006) P

Other than the above mentioned laws, there are also policies that Strengthens the said laws.

Policies

These includes the following:

• The National Gender and Development policy  
• Gender Equality and Development, Sessional Paper No.2 0f 2006 
• Kenya National HIV/AIDS Plan 2005/6-2009/10 
• National Guidelines on the Management of Sexual Violence 2nd Edition 2009 5
• National Framework toward Response and Prevention of Gender Based Violence in Kenya December 2009

Sexual Gender Based Violence Is becoming a pervasive form of Human Rights Violation.Down here is a summary of alarming statistics On SGBV.

Statistics.

1. The 2008-09 Kenya Demographic Health Survey (KDHS) investigated women’s experience of sexual violence, including whether the respondent’s first sexual intercourse was forced against her will.
2. Force at first sexual intercourse is not uncommon among Kenyan women; 
3. 12 percent of women age 15-49 report that their first sexual intercourse was forced against their will. 
4. Women whose age at first sex was before age 15 are more likely to report that their first intercourse was forced than those who initiated sex at an older age. 
5. KDHS report also indicates that one in five Kenyan women has experienced sexual violence – meaning almost 21% of all Kenyan women have experienced sexual violence 
6. In the vast majority of cases, sexual violence is perpetrated by persons known to the victims; strangers accounted for only 6 percent of sexual violence. 
7. Women who have experienced sexual violence reported current husbands or partners as the perpetrators, followed by current or former boyfriends. 
8. It is worth noting that among ever-married women, sexual violence is perpetrated mainly by current and former husbands and partners. 
9. Among those who have never married, the violence is committed mainly by boyfriends, although almost one in five never-married women (19 percent) has been violated by a friend or acquaintance and almost as many by a stranger (17 percent). 
10. On sexual violence and conflicts -The Waki Commission that investigated on Post Election Violence noted in the Report that sexual violence occurred not only as a by-product of the collapse in social order in Kenya brought on by the post-election conflicts. 
11. It was used as a tool to terrorize individuals and families and precipitate their expulsion from the communities in which they live. 
12. Investigation of sexual and Gender-Based Violence formed one of the toughest tasks the commission undertook even though it was not the only aspect of cases they encountered. 
13. According to the Waki Report, only 900 cases of sexual violence were reported across the country and a myriad went unreported.