KENYA-SEXUAL VIOLENCE Kenyan schoolboys save girls from rape after learning 'no means no'

Record ID: 335710

  • Title: KENYA-SEXUAL VIOLENCE Kenyan schoolboys save girls from rape after learning 'no means no'
  • Date: 30th March 2015
  • Summary: NAIROBI, KENYA (RECENT) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF FACILITATORS CONDUCTING SELF-DEFENSE CLASS FOR OTHER FACILITATORS VARIOUS OF FACILITATORS LISTENING GENERAL VIEW OF MAKONGENI SECONDARY SCHOOL / STUDENT WALKING COLLINS OMONDI, PROGRAM CO-ORDINATOR 'NO MEANS NO WORLDWIDE' TEACHING STUDENTS / WRITING ON BLACK BOARD STUDENTS LISTENING (SOUNDBITE) (English) COLLINS OMONDI, PROGRAM
  • Embargoed: 14th April 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Kenya
  • Country: Kenya
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVACJV3XSDUO8KI2XBEHMF911EKM
  • Story Text: Esther Nyambura is teaching a somewhat unique lesson at a high school in Kenya's capital, Nairobi.
    Nyambura teaches a program called 'Your Moment of Truth', run by the charity Ujamaa Africa which encourages teenagers to stand up against violence toward women.
    "51 percent of the girls that were being raped were being raped by their boyfriends, and then we realised there was a problem with the boyfriends, so we had to go to boys their age and find out, what were their attitudes towards them and we realized the boys had such a bad attitude. They thought like if a girl dresses in such a manner, it was because they were calling out for sex, if this boy takes you out to an expensive date, it is because they expect sex in return," said Nyambura.
    Violence against women is common in Kenya. Around a dozen women were stripped naked and assaulted last year because they were wearing miniskirts or other clothing perceived to be immodest.
    Almost half of Kenyan women who have ever been married have been physically abused by their husbands, according to government data from 2008/9.
    Some 53 percent of women believe men have the right to beat their wives for reasons such as arguing with them, neglecting the children or going out without informing them, the same survey showed.
    One in four women and girls in Nairobi's most dangerous slums has been sexually assaulted, Ujamaa said.
    Its 'No Means No Worldwide' program started teaching self-defense to Nairobi schoolgirls in 2010.
    Ujamaa expanded the program to include boys that same year, as the girls said that the main perpetrators of rape were their boyfriends.
    Many of the schoolboys start out with very negative attitudes toward women, the trainers found, believing that it is legitimate to rape girls who they take on expensive dates or who are out after dark.
    Before the class, more than 80 percent of boys said that girls wearing miniskirts were inviting boys to have sex with them. Afterwards, it dropped to 30 percent, Ujamaa's data showed.
    Collins Omondi, is a project coordinator with 'No Means No Worldwide.' He teaches adolescent boys to stamp out violence against women and girls in Nairobi slums.
    "Positive masculinity means using your strength as a man to fight for the rights of others. Yes that is positive masculinity not using your strength to fight others, using your strength to fight for others, especially the girls who are being assaulted in our community," said Collins Omondi, Program Co-Ordinator 'No Means No Worldwide.'
    The training is "highly effective" in improving attitudes toward women and increasing the likelihood of successful intervention, researchers from Stanford University, University of Nairobi and United States International University-Africa said.
    The training increased boys' successful interventions when witnessing physical or sexual assault by 185 percent, from 26 to 74 percent, according to their study to be published later this year in the Journal of Interpersonal Violence.
    Interventions in verbal harassment also increased, and rape by boyfriends and friends of girls in schools where 'Your Moment of Truth' was taught dropped by 20 percent, from 61 to 49 percent, the researchers said.
    The number of girls dropping out of school due to pregnancy has fallen since Ujamaa started teaching in the school, said Jacklyne Anusu, one of the teachers.
    "The girls have become strong, you can see they relate well with the boys, there is no that fear that was there all along but now they are strong. You find most of them resist that pressure from the boys, and you find the boys have tried to accept it also so they realise these are our sisters we need to help them grow," said Jackline Anusu, Guidance and Counselling teacher at Makongeni Secondary School.
    The program uses social learning theory, whereby people copy the behavior of those around them, to try and get boys to stand up for women and change social norms.
    This can involve simple actions, like walking away from a classmate who is talking badly about a girl.
    Courage is one of the main lessons.
    At the end of the class, boys in Nairobi's Makongeni Secondary School do a shout out to build their confidence, punching the air and chanting: "I've got my spirit ... I've got my mind."
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