A depressed woman. Often rape victims suffer more than the physical ordeal because they go through a hard time to report the case and have the offenders prosecuted

The 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence is an international campaign that runs from November 25, the International Day Against Violence Against Women, to December 10, the International Human Rights Day to link violence against women and human rights and to emphasise that such violence is a violation of human rights. In commemoration of the events, New Vision’s Irene Nabusoba writes. for justice:


Justice delayed is justice denied, they say. Nobody understands the saying more than 25-year-old Amelia, who was raped by a special hire taxi driver. “I had gone dancing with friends when I asked a taxi driver to drop me at my home. It was about 3:00am,” says the banking executive, who lives in Ntinda. “We drove in silence until the driver branched off the Ntinda –Stretcher Road, just before the Shell Fuelling Station. He drove to an isolated road and parked, dragged me out of the car into the bush and raped me. He threatened to stab me in the heart if I screamed. I saw death coming.
“After he was done, he zipped his trousers, tucked in his shirt and walked back to his car. He told me he could still take me home and I could keep the money and consider it ‘payment’ for my services. I was too shattered to consider the ‘kind gesture’. All I wanted was him to drive off so I could write down the car registration number,” Amelia says, with tears welling from her eyes.
As the rapist drove off, he was intercepted by a security guard. “At least somebody else has seen the bastard, I thought, only to see the two involved in what looked like a transaction. After concluding their deal, the guard offered directions to the main road before shamelessly telling me not to waste my time reporting to the Police “because they will do nothing,” she adds.
Amelia ignored the guard’s advice and reported the case to the nearby police station. She was shocked when the officers chose to ridicule her: “Don’t you think you invited it? Look at your skimpy dress. Where are you coming from at this time?” one of the cops said before his colleague cut in: “These are ‘campus girls who detooth people and take off!” They started laughing.
Humiliated, she made her exit and did not look back even when they told her to make a statement. The next day, she called up a friend and they sought the services of a lawyer. However, the lawyer also asked them to report the case to the Police, where she would make her statement and then be referred to the Police surgeon for an examination to extract evidence of possible forceful penetration — the primary evidence for rape.
“I could not go through the whole Police process again. I just went to a clinic for medication and abandoned the whole issue,” she says.
That was six months ago and Amelia is still struggling to come to terms with the unfortunate experience.
Amelia’s case is not isolated. Many women have been sexually violated through rape. A few have reported and got justice while many suffer silently. Victims of rape often face insurmountable obstacles in trying to bring the perpetrators to justice.
In the 2007 annual police crime report, 599 cases of rape were reported. What is particularly disturbing is that only 258 of these cases were taken to court and only five were heard and the culprits convicted. This is not any different from the global picture where only 1% of reported cases are fully prosecuted and offenders convicted.

Gathering medical evidence
Dr. John Twinomuhangi, who occasionally stands in for a police surgeon, says they often look out for signs of possible forceful penetration.
“We have to prove there was sex and that it was forceful for rape to have taken place” he says. “We look for bruises, lacerations or semen deposits. Quite often, we do not find anything because we receive victims late when they have washed and thus tampered with the evidence. It is supposed to be within 24 hours,” Twinomuhangi explains. “If a condom was used, then it is hard to find evidence. He adds that injuries in the private parts are common with gang rapes or virgins. “If there was one rapist, you have had regular penetrative sex or have ever delivered a baby, there may be no injuries to the private parts,” he says.
In this case, he says, they have to consider injuries on the elbows, knees or in the back to show that the victim fought.
But one may still have trouble proving forceful penetration unless there is an eyewitness to testify.
Medical results may not also corroborate your testimony or that of a witness.
However, the biggest hurdle is getting a doctor to testify, in the absence of a police surgeon. For instance, the whole of eastern region (Mbale, Jinja, Kapchorwa, Tororo, Kumi) has one police surgeon.Yet most doctors do not like to conduct rape examinations because they are time-consuming.
Consequently, willing doctors may charge as much as sh100,000 for the time they are going to spend in courts.
“Doctors feel they lose a lot of time in court yet they are only paid sh10,000 for the procedure and testimony. For lower courts, it is the victim to pay the doctor. Others do not want to be associated with the procedure for fear of ‘revenge’ by the culprit in case he is released.
“I have been to court several times but I just do it on humanitarian grounds,” Twinomuhangi says.
He says few rape cases are reported or pursued because of the lengthy, frustrating procedure. “It calls for some money on the part of the victim. Sometimes the police forms are not there. Besides, you are only given the original to photocopy — one for the doctor and the other for the Police. For poor people upcountry, it is like justice twice denied,” he remarks.
Francis Gimara, a lawyer, says he has handled a few cases like Amelia’s with most of the victims dropping the legal suits out of frustration.
“Many women choose to keep quiet. They imagine they will be shunned, while the married find it embarrassing especially before their husbands, in-laws and children. They say they would rather handle it silently and let the healing take its own course,” Gimara discloses.
Nsubuga says while the Child Protection Unit investigates the offences in a sensitive manner, the units are unfortunately only found in Kampala and some few urban areas.
However, with a poorly funded judicial system, it is hard for the state to successfully prosecute rape cases.
“For instance, a DNA test that costs sh250,000 may be needed and yet this is not possible for most victims. Private firms work better but most of the criminal cases particularly rape are done by the state,” he says.

Prevalence of rape
-Global statistics show that at least one in every five women experience rape or attempted rape during their lifetime.

-It could be by a spouse (marital rape), a boyfriend (date rape), on duty (common among prostitutes by clients), or a stranger.

-According to the United Nations Population Fund 2000 report on the state of the world population, despite documentation, sexual violence against women globally is getting worse.

-Official figures underestimate the magnitude of the problem; because the proportion of rape reported to the authorities varies from 16% in the US to 3% in South Africa

-According to the gender ministry, about 30% of women suffer sexual violence.

The legal process
The Kampala Extra Police spokesman, Simeo Nsubuga, says for an investigation to be initiated, the victim has to report the crime to the Police.

“The CID used to pursue rape cases after they were registered to the general police desk but we now have a special squad that handles sexual violence offences,” he adds.

“The initial reporting is still at the general counter where you make the statement and are given a medical form — P3 — to be filled by the police surgeon upon examination. The victim is then handed over to the Child and Family Protection Unit, which has specially trained officers to guide, counsel and assist the victim to pursue justice,” Nsubuga explains.

“We encourage women to report immediately before tampering with the evidence,” he says regretting that the Police are constrained by budgets, personnel and overwhelming caseloads.

“The main problem is that we do not have enough police surgeons. Many people, for fear of long periods of waiting, go to private clinics. We have no specific hospital where there is a doctor to handle such cases. Sometimes patients have to wait for days,” he says.

“Some have to walk long distances to reach the nearest health facility. Doctors in small health centres may not even know what to look out for in the absence of a P3 form,” Nsubuga adds.

He notes that the Child and Family Protection Unit is doing a good job in pursuing sexual offence cases.