Post-election violence hit women most, with some being gang-raped and infected with the HIV virus, the Waki Commission heard on Thursday.

Lawyer Anasthesia Otieno, who is also a gender activist and peer counsellor, told the commission, which is sitting in Nakuru, that many women were gang-raped and beaten by raiders as their spouses and children watched.

She said after the ordeals, the same women had to bear the pain of seeing the spouses being killed.

“After tearing the clothes of their victims and raping them in turns in full view of the entire family, the assailants would turn to their victims’ husbands and kill them,” said the witness.

She said the post-election period was a very difficult time for women, saying they were not safe anywhere.

They were raped in their houses, on their way to refugee camps and even in the camps.

Some service providers in the camps, she said, took advantage of the situation and abused women.

Release stress

“Women were sexually and physically abused by all people, their tribesmen, the raiders and even service providers in the camps where they were perceived to be safe,” said Ms Otieno.

The witness said some of the rapists were engaging in the vice to “release stress”.

She said some women were beaten, rejected and forced to change their children’s names on the basis that they belonged to a community different from their husband’s.

She said women who were mostly affected were those in the low-income bracket and living in less secure estates. These were mitumba dealers, market traders or simple housewives. Ms Otieno said most of the rape victims were infected with sexually transmitted diseases and HIV, while others became pregnant.

She said the victims were now suffering from depression and lower abdominal pains, among other ailments.

“Apart from the ailments that these women have to contend with, some of them have been widowed,” she said.