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{
"id": 1233688,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1233688/?format=api",
"text_counter": 177,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Molo, UDA",
"speaker_title": "Hon. Kuria Kimani",
"speaker": null,
"content": "House and the Departmental Committee on Labour, which did a thorough investigation and has tabled the Report before us. Of course, as we would expect, I noted in the Report that they were unable to get much evidence. This is because the victims of sexual harassment were intimidated and feared for their lives. Therefore, no single culprit of sexual harassment came to testify before the Committee, which begs the questions: What is happening in places of work across the Republic? What is happening to women who work in various institutions in this country? I dare say harassment does not just happen to women. We have heard of cases where men are also sexually harassed in their workplaces, while going to work and even in the normal operations of the businesses. One would wonder whether we are short of laws to protect against sexual harassment in this country. The answer is no. Article 27 of the Constitution prohibits any kind of discrimination, including gender, anywhere in this country. Section 23 of the Sexual Offences Act expressly says what sexual harassment is, but unfortunately only sets a penalty of up to Ksh100,000 and an imprisonment of up to three years for these offences. So perhaps, it is high time that this Honourable House reviewed this Act, the fine and imprisonment term or punishment that should be vested on these sexual offenders. Again, the Employment Act, section (6)(1) talks expressly about how we should relate with each other at the workplaces. Perhaps, this sexual harassment is not just happening in Kericho. Our police stations have become another place for sexual harassment. Most of the police stations in this country do not have separate cells for men and women. Most importantly, very few of them have separate cells for children. Even, the ones that have separate cells for child offenders, do not have separate mini-cells for boys and girls. So, you have a child offender who is a boy who is arrested and taken to a police station and kept among other criminal men. By morning, a lot has happened to that young offender. So, I think it is high time the Executive and the Ministry of Interior and National Administration re-think how our police cells are made. They should ensure even if these people are offenders, they still have their rights and should be protected from harassment in those cells. So, it is my hope that we are going to have cells clearly defined, for men and for women. Most importantly, to make sure there are cells for the young offenders, both boys and girls. This morning when I was preparing to second this Motion, I talked to Corporal Beth Kamau, a police officer in charge of gender in Elburgon Police Station. I was surprised to note that 75 per cent of all cases registered there – as she said this represents the statistics for all police stations across the country since they have a group where they share all these reports with other gender officers – relate to gender-based violence. Hon. Temporary Speaker, in the morning when coming to work, I like to listen to Classic 105 and some of the debates by Maina and King’ang’i, and sometimes they are very controversial. I get very surprised when I hear stories of men and women talking about being beaten like it is the order of the day. Talking about women who are battered to near death, and they say: What do I do and where do I go Maina? These cases go on and on. A few months ago, there was a debate about how men were being clobbered by their wives. One said he lost his eye, and another said he was still limping. The way the discussion goes is so casual because this is the order of the day. This is to urge Kenyans, especially those in abusive marriages, that when it comes to violence, when your wife or husband is beating you up, you are a potential candidate for death any minute. I remember when I was in high school, there was a case in Nyahururu, where a husband wanted to hit the wife, but she ran out. The only thing she saw that could protect her from being hit was an axe. So, when she was trying to defend herself with the The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}