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Kenya has compensated four women who were victims of sexual violence stemming from the 2007 elections, marking the country’s first payment of this nature, according to rights organisations, which reported on Friday.
Rights organisations identified at least 900 individuals who experienced sexual assaults, including gang rape and castration, during the surge of post-election violence that struck the nation over a decade ago.
“This signals a shift where state responsibility has been acknowledged,” said Demas Kiprono, Deputy Executive Director at the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) Kenya, one of the groups involved.
The victims, who all requested anonymity, expressed gratitude for the decision, despite the long wait.
“I thought I would die without seeing this money and justice being served,” said one, communicating through her lawyer.
In 2020, the High Court mandated the government to provide compensation to four women, and rights groups confirmed on Friday that in a “historic” action, officials disbursed approximately $31,000 to each victim.
The coalition, comprising the ICJ, the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights, and Physicians for Human Rights, stated that this ruling represents a “significant step forward.”
However, they also remarked that further efforts are necessary, particularly concerning the hundreds of other individuals who suffered assaults during this tumultuous period.
In the 2020 decision, the court rejected the cases of another four individuals—two women and two men—citing that they had been “assaulted by non-state actors.” This case is currently under appeal.
Following the events of 2007, the International Criminal Court charged then-President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto with crimes against humanity, but both cases fell apart when witnesses failed to come forward.
