Robbed

The referee blows the whistle. It’s a goal. Fans of the football team that has just scored are busy cheering while the other fans are busy sulking. I can see a few fans of the opposing team tear up with fear of their team losing.

It’s not the usual football match you would expect. The match is at the Chuma football grounds in Shimo la Tewa Maximum security Prison in Mombasa. The match is between sex offenders and paralegals. The sex offenders play for the Badilika team representing the prison, and Mabrouk representing the paralegals. The match ends 6-5 with Badilika winning the match.

Betty Sharon is the co-ordinator of Pwani GBV [Gender Based Violence] network, an organization which deals with raising awareness on gender based violence. Sharon says, “The world marks 16 days of activism against gender based violence from November 25^th to December 10^th. We chose Shimo la Tewa prison because we run a program with them that involves sex offenders.”

The network rehabilitates the sex offenders and also provides counseling to help the offenders evaluate their actions. Some offenders defiled their own children.

The GBV network chose football  as a way to bring together both groups; the convicted offenders and the paralegals who were involved in their indictment. The network believes that this would be able to foster understanding and good relations between the two.

Michael Tole the chairman of the Badilika team explains, ‘We started this group to educate our fellow prison mates on human rights. And raise awareness on gender based violence. I was found guilty for sexual assault. I still insist on my innocence. I am serving a 15 year jail term.’

Sergeant Kessy Rashid co-ordinates the GBV clubs in the prison and agrees with Sharon.  Rashid says the Badilika team has done an excellent job in raising awareness on gender based violence. All members of the team were found guilty of carrying out sexual offences. Rashid is quick to add that he has seen a positive change in the offenders now with high levels of discipline. Rashid says that he wishes a football match could be organized where the ladies would play against the gentlemen.

Lou Derrick, is the chairman of the International Centre for Reproductive Health (ICRH), Mombasa. ICRH works closely with women and children who have undergone sexual abuse.  ‘We work hand in hand with the Coast Provincial General Hospital in Mombasa. We are ready to work with men but reports say they do not seek help in case of sexual defilement because of stigma and denial.’

Women and children are most vulnerable to cases of gender based violence.  Monica Aluoch lives in the sprawling slums of Mombasa. It was not immediately evident, when I spoke to her, of the magnitude of the ordeal she had undergone.

‘‘I am HIV positive and I am a reformed sex worker. When I was 16 I got married but I am now a widow with 4 kids to raise. I do odd jobs like helping people brew chang’aa, and yes I know it is illegal,” Aluoch says.

When Aluoch’s husband died she turned to commercial sex work to feed her children. She could not get a decent job. “Getting a job is not easy.” She says. Aluoch used to sleep with 4 men in one day and each would offer her on average, 200 Kenya shillings.

 ‘Some used to beat me up after an encounter. Other men would call their friends to rape me after I got drunk.’ Aluoch recalls.

Aluoch was molested at the age of 9 by her cousin. ‘My cousin used to touch me inappropriately. I reported the incidence to my brothers. They reported the issue to my uncle, a doctor.” Her uncle ignored the whole incident noting that the perpetrators were also his relatives.

Challenges arise when solving gender based violence in cases where the perpetrator is a relative.

In the cases ICRH receive in Mombasa, 74% of the survivors know who defiled them. Most of the survivors are children who account for 80% of those who have been violated. Elizabeth Aroka is a lawyer with ICRH in Mombasa who specializes in representing survivors of sexual assault. She explains her experiences.

“Most of the time children report these cases after these acts have been happening for a long time. Sometimes the children are threatened and given as little as ten shillings so that they do not report the incidences,’’ concludes Elizabeth Aroka.

Dialling down

This is a story about a HIV positive woman in Mombasa,Kenya struggling to raise her family and takes up family planning.


https://soundcloud.com/albert-mwangeka/family-planning-feature

UNDERGOING THE CUT

It’s on a Saturday afternoon at Bangladesh slums, Mombasa county. As usual the sun is scorching. Children can be seen playing cheerfully near a pile of garbage and sewage oblivious of the harm this could do them. Bangladesh is also home to Charles Juma.

‘I am 54 years old. I got circumcised last year. My culture does not acknowledge male circumcision. I underwent the cut to reduce the chances of contracting the HIV virus. Older people are normally afraid of this operation but it is less painful. They are also shy because they are afraid of stigma. They do not want to be seen wearing lessos and kikoys ,a requirement if you are circumcised.’

Koome Inyingi, a sociologist based in Mombasa says that in traditional African societies, circumcision signified a transition from childhood to adulthood. He continues that it was mainly practiced amongst the youth contrary to many religious beliefs where a boy was circumcised when he was only 8 days old.

‘In the  Meru community the circumcised males were put in seclusion. They were taught how to relate to women. Amongst the Bukusu a boy was supposed to watch as we underwent the cut. It is believed that this made him more masculine,’adds Inyingi.

Kissinger George, the District HIV and AIDS and STI co-ordinator Kilindini district, Mombasa county  says male circumcision reduces chances of contracting the HIV virus by 60%. Kisinja explains they normally counsel the men undergoing Voluntary Male Circumcision, VMMC on issues of HIV and AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infections(STI). He adds that after they have undergone the cut they should take care of the wound and not engage in any sexual activity till they heal. Kissinger also advises the men to have a balanced diet to ensure good health and nutrition.

Alpha and Omega is a Community Based Organization in Bangladesh that encourages VMMC.

‘We advise men who have not undergone the cut to get circumcised. Before the operation they are normally tested for HIV and AIDS so that they can live positively. The Bangladesh area of Mombasa has a high rate of men who are not circumcised’ says Alfred Sigo the Chairman of the CBO Alpha and Omega.

Thomas Ogot, a member of the CBO says that traditional values hindered their efforts in spearheading the VMMC project. He adds that many were against the idea since their parents did not believe in circumcision.

Juma says that he has convinced very men both young and old to do VMMC. He says that he also advised his own son to be circumcised despite the fact that it does not incline with traditions and culture of his ancestors.

A couple of boys shared their experiences.

‘I come from a culture where boys are circumcised after they are through with primary school education. When time came for me to undergo the cut my parents did not have enough money. When Alpha and Omega came up with the VMMC project I quickly agreed to get circumcised. I am happy boys do not call me finyu’ recalls  Gideon Mwangi.

Gideon shares that finyu is  slang  for  a boy that is not circumcised.

Clinton Angira says that he felt like a man after undergoing the cut. He adds that he can now join conversations with his peers.  Angira mentions that previously he was nicknamed zunga, another term that describes an uncircumcised man.