Orphaned girls in Kenya are extremely vulnerable and at high risk for sexual and physical assault. Makindu Children's Program offers legal counsel, advocacy, mental and physical healthcare, and trauma support to child victims of sexual assault. This project will help provide much needed social support to victims in navigating through the slow and painful legal process to bring perpetrators in Kenya to justice.
Currently, 3 of our girl orphans have recently been raped and, with the help of MCP, are navigating the courts to bring their perpetrators to justice. Orphans in Kenya are constantly at risk for sexual and physical assault. Reporting rape is often discouraged by families because the men are the financial providers. Therefore, many victims do not receive crisis intervention, medical care, trauma support or counseling in response to their horrible experiences.
Makindu Children's Program reports assaults to the police, and ensures that victims receive necessary medical care, trauma support and crisis intervention. Many of the victims live in the same houses as the ones who sexually assault them so MCP places them in safe houses. MCP then provides all necessary support - legal, physical and emotional - to overcome the trauma and throughout the pursuit of justice. We work to empower the women and victims, on an individual and community basis.
As more girls receive the support needed to successfully convict and imprison their perpetrators, the Kenyan social perception of "who is at fault" slowly leans away from the victim and instead toward the perpetrator. Ten years ago, it was almost unheard of for an orphaned girl to win a case against her rapist. Today, Makindu Children's Program has helped convict and imprison for life two perpetrators, with more cases (and hopefully more convictions) in the system.
