[Watch/Read] Kenya's Unique Approach To Prevent Rapes

Source: Upworthy Image:www.npr.org

The ongoing problem of rape raises the heckles all over the world. Kenya’s unique approach to prevent rape should be noted and kept as an example for the rest of the world.

Kenya has faced the trauma of having more no of rapes than anywhere . One out of four women or girls have been sexually assaulted. Schoolgirls were frequently raped by friends and boyfriends. Clothes have been torn from women’s bodies in public.

Boys justification to rape was that the women wearing short -skirts and those going out on expensive dates deserves to be raped.

Noted website unworthy has jotted down some key steps taken to control the reprehensible problem.

In 2010 the group No Means No Worldwide began offering self-defense classes to Nairobi schoolgirls, teaching them how to fight back against rape. Unlike shaming the victims, practiced in many countries the group focused on empowering the women in the poorest parts of Kenya with self-defense skills.

The programme founders did not limit the initiatives to women but reached out to boys as their reprehensible mentality was the root cause of the problem. The program was named as “your moment of truth”. As during the early No means No Sessions, girls revealed that the common perpetrators of rape were boyfriends.

The programme was huge success as the a drop of 20% was witnessed in the case of boyfriends and friends raping their cohorts. During this ongoing session, it was learnt that the boys justified the rape of those women who wear mini-skirts. The study found that boys who go through training were more likely to intervene when witnessing a girl being assaulted, and they were less likely to verbally harass girls.

Lee Paiya, founder of No Means No Worldwide said that they wanted to build the program on the goodness already prevailing in boys.

It is believed that two-three down the line, Kenya will witness a drop in rape as the boys who were a part of this programmme have said that they got to know the importance of consent and should never force themselves on any woman.