I’m going to tell you a story today one
day a lady let’s call her Jean when she
was carjacked by four armed men they
proceeded to gang rape her for several
hours and eventually abandoned her in a
forested area luckily she managed to
find her way to a police station when
she arrived at the police station she
reported the incident and the officer
informed her that she needed to go to a
hospital for medical intervention given
that it was late she was tired
traumatized she opted to go home instead
at home she removed her clothes placed
them in a plastic bag and discarded them
she also proceeded to take a shower and
try to get some sleep in preparation for
the next day the following day she goes
to a nearby hospital finds a long queue
waits in line patiently and finally
reaches the triage nurse she repeats her
ordeal to the triage nurse who then
refers her to a clinician when she gets
to the clinician she tells the clinician
her story and much to her dismay he
informs the heat that he doesn’t have
the relevant skills equipment or
knowledge to manage her case but he
sends her to a recommended hospital
that’s well known in the city for
managing cases of sexual and
gender-based violence frustrated and
upset she goes back home takes another
shower and tries to get some rest
the next day she musters enough courage
to get herself out of the house and try
one more time she goes to the hospital
that was recommended for her is seen by
a nurse recommend
referred to a clinician who then
examines her and documents his findings
on a post rape care forum otherwise
known as a PRC forum he informs her
however that he cannot collect any
specimens from her body because she had
already showered he then sends her back
to the police station where she reported
the incident because apparently she
needed another form field so she goes
back to the police station and she’s
given a form a Kenya police medical
report form otherwise known as a p3 form
without which proceedings in court
become very difficult if not impossible
now by this time two days have elapsed
not one person has told her that she
needs to have evidence collected not one
person has directed her to go back home
get the clothes that she put in a
plastic bag because they are needed they
have evidence on her when a victim
undergoes weep they become a crime scene
and they must be treated as such my name
is dr. Kizzy Chaka and I’m here to bring
an end to the trauma confusion and
despair that victims of sexual violence
face on a daily basis let me tell you a
bit about myself
I’m a forensic unison and I work with
the National Police Service and every
day I see about forty to sixty victims
of violence confused these desperate
victims of violence of these an average
of six our defilement cases defilement
being the rape of a child a child is a
minor under the age of 18 and a majority
of these are aged between two and 12
years of age I attend court as an expert
witness giving testimony on these cases
and it’s in court that I’m observed and
noted the implications of misconceptions
misinformation
myths and poor handling of evidence I
start my day in the morning in addition
to going to court in a tiny little
poorly resourced
office and work my way through 50
patients over an eight-hour stretch I
take their histories
I take a detailed history document what
they’re saying I examine injuries and
document my findings on the p3 form and
I also give counseling because sadly
most of these patients don’t even know
what it is they’re doing
they don’t know what all these forms are
for they don’t know why they’ve been
asked to get these forms filled or what
purpose they serve so by the end of each
day I’m tired I’m hungry I’m exhausted
and I’m drained but for me it’s just a
Tuesday or a Wednesday or a Friday for
the victims it’s the worst day of their
lives now I work with victims suspects
and dead bodies but I wasn’t always like
this
when I was a little girl I wanted to be
a flight attendant tall elegant
beautiful always smiling stunning but I
was also a sematic from an early age
from age two I was missing out on school
a lot I spent a lot of time out of
school and my grades suffered a little
bit but the biggest impact was from the
asthma and the steroid medication that I
had to take to keep the asthma I’d be
now the steroids caused me to be very
very big you can imagine being a child
three times the size of your peers in
primary school so I was teased a lot and
when I voiced my desire to be a flight
attendant
my friends mocked me and told me that I
was too fat and too ugly to become a
flight attendant
well of course my self-esteem took a hit
but I thought okay I’ll choose another
busy woman in uniform so now as a police
surgeon I get to help people every day
not with in-flight meals movies tea
coffee
but to navigate the worst day of their
lives and I can tell you it hasn’t been
easy dealing with children who’ve been
physically assaulted sexually abused
sodomized neglected by the very people
who are supposed to love and care
for them their caregivers their parents
dealing with women who are battered and
raped by their husbands or intimate
partners it’s not easy at all and I was
troubled very many times I was troubled
and I was finding it difficult to sleep
especially because I noted that ignorant
was playing a very big role in a lot of
the berlin’s cases I see and this is
what drove me to start my blog said you
keep the community to educate
stakeholders key players on the crucial
details and dynamics behind sexual
violence and child abuse in addition the
other purpose of the blog was to
encourage those who have been hurt to
reach out for help and not to suffer in
silence so my call to action is my it’s
about time is it’s about time that we
started and we have a one-stop
multi-agency center that can manage and
care for victims of sexual and
gender-based violence imagine for a
minute if Jane after her ordeal Delta
helpline was collected by an ambulance
was received by a sexual assault nurse
examiner was then examined by a forensic
expert who would examine her properly
document the findings properly take
photos the way they’re supposed to be
taken collect evidence using a rape kit
hand it over to a police officer who’s
still under the same roof who would then
make ensure that chain of custody is
maintained send the evidence to the lab
technician in the same roof
then Jane receives her psychosocial
support and legal advice and if need be
a safe place to sleep for a night or two
a one-stop Center would bring an end to
the repetition Jane having to repeat
herself and relive their ordeal over and
over again it would bring an end to time
wasting it would bring an end to poor
handling of evidence that is crucial if
convictions are to be secured
I’ve been doing this for four and a half
years now and the methodology has to
change this cannot continue any longer
my vision is to live in a violence-free
kenya a violence-free africa every woman
every man and every child should live a
violence-free life two children ten
children a hundred children they all
deserve to live a balanced real life
mother Teresa once said don’t worry
about the numbers started a person right
next to you and you and you my name is
dr. Kizzy shaco i’m a senior forensic
medical officer working with the
National Police Service as a police
surgeon my blog is when Jackie Mia
breaking the silence and I intend to
start a one-stop center that will be a
model of excellence to be replicated in
all 47 counties in Kenya and beyond
[Applause]
day a lady let’s call her Jean when she
was carjacked by four armed men they
proceeded to gang rape her for several
hours and eventually abandoned her in a
forested area luckily she managed to
find her way to a police station when
she arrived at the police station she
reported the incident and the officer
informed her that she needed to go to a
hospital for medical intervention given
that it was late she was tired
traumatized she opted to go home instead
at home she removed her clothes placed
them in a plastic bag and discarded them
she also proceeded to take a shower and
try to get some sleep in preparation for
the next day the following day she goes
to a nearby hospital finds a long queue
waits in line patiently and finally
reaches the triage nurse she repeats her
ordeal to the triage nurse who then
refers her to a clinician when she gets
to the clinician she tells the clinician
her story and much to her dismay he
informs the heat that he doesn’t have
the relevant skills equipment or
knowledge to manage her case but he
sends her to a recommended hospital
that’s well known in the city for
managing cases of sexual and
gender-based violence frustrated and
upset she goes back home takes another
shower and tries to get some rest
the next day she musters enough courage
to get herself out of the house and try
one more time she goes to the hospital
that was recommended for her is seen by
a nurse recommend
referred to a clinician who then
examines her and documents his findings
on a post rape care forum otherwise
known as a PRC forum he informs her
however that he cannot collect any
specimens from her body because she had
already showered he then sends her back
to the police station where she reported
the incident because apparently she
needed another form field so she goes
back to the police station and she’s
given a form a Kenya police medical
report form otherwise known as a p3 form
without which proceedings in court
become very difficult if not impossible
now by this time two days have elapsed
not one person has told her that she
needs to have evidence collected not one
person has directed her to go back home
get the clothes that she put in a
plastic bag because they are needed they
have evidence on her when a victim
undergoes weep they become a crime scene
and they must be treated as such my name
is dr. Kizzy Chaka and I’m here to bring
an end to the trauma confusion and
despair that victims of sexual violence
face on a daily basis let me tell you a
bit about myself
I’m a forensic unison and I work with
the National Police Service and every
day I see about forty to sixty victims
of violence confused these desperate
victims of violence of these an average
of six our defilement cases defilement
being the rape of a child a child is a
minor under the age of 18 and a majority
of these are aged between two and 12
years of age I attend court as an expert
witness giving testimony on these cases
and it’s in court that I’m observed and
noted the implications of misconceptions
misinformation
myths and poor handling of evidence I
start my day in the morning in addition
to going to court in a tiny little
poorly resourced
office and work my way through 50
patients over an eight-hour stretch I
take their histories
I take a detailed history document what
they’re saying I examine injuries and
document my findings on the p3 form and
I also give counseling because sadly
most of these patients don’t even know
what it is they’re doing
they don’t know what all these forms are
for they don’t know why they’ve been
asked to get these forms filled or what
purpose they serve so by the end of each
day I’m tired I’m hungry I’m exhausted
and I’m drained but for me it’s just a
Tuesday or a Wednesday or a Friday for
the victims it’s the worst day of their
lives now I work with victims suspects
and dead bodies but I wasn’t always like
this
when I was a little girl I wanted to be
a flight attendant tall elegant
beautiful always smiling stunning but I
was also a sematic from an early age
from age two I was missing out on school
a lot I spent a lot of time out of
school and my grades suffered a little
bit but the biggest impact was from the
asthma and the steroid medication that I
had to take to keep the asthma I’d be
now the steroids caused me to be very
very big you can imagine being a child
three times the size of your peers in
primary school so I was teased a lot and
when I voiced my desire to be a flight
attendant
my friends mocked me and told me that I
was too fat and too ugly to become a
flight attendant
well of course my self-esteem took a hit
but I thought okay I’ll choose another
busy woman in uniform so now as a police
surgeon I get to help people every day
not with in-flight meals movies tea
coffee
but to navigate the worst day of their
lives and I can tell you it hasn’t been
easy dealing with children who’ve been
physically assaulted sexually abused
sodomized neglected by the very people
who are supposed to love and care
for them their caregivers their parents
dealing with women who are battered and
raped by their husbands or intimate
partners it’s not easy at all and I was
troubled very many times I was troubled
and I was finding it difficult to sleep
especially because I noted that ignorant
was playing a very big role in a lot of
the berlin’s cases I see and this is
what drove me to start my blog said you
keep the community to educate
stakeholders key players on the crucial
details and dynamics behind sexual
violence and child abuse in addition the
other purpose of the blog was to
encourage those who have been hurt to
reach out for help and not to suffer in
silence so my call to action is my it’s
about time is it’s about time that we
started and we have a one-stop
multi-agency center that can manage and
care for victims of sexual and
gender-based violence imagine for a
minute if Jane after her ordeal Delta
helpline was collected by an ambulance
was received by a sexual assault nurse
examiner was then examined by a forensic
expert who would examine her properly
document the findings properly take
photos the way they’re supposed to be
taken collect evidence using a rape kit
hand it over to a police officer who’s
still under the same roof who would then
make ensure that chain of custody is
maintained send the evidence to the lab
technician in the same roof
then Jane receives her psychosocial
support and legal advice and if need be
a safe place to sleep for a night or two
a one-stop Center would bring an end to
the repetition Jane having to repeat
herself and relive their ordeal over and
over again it would bring an end to time
wasting it would bring an end to poor
handling of evidence that is crucial if
convictions are to be secured
I’ve been doing this for four and a half
years now and the methodology has to
change this cannot continue any longer
my vision is to live in a violence-free
kenya a violence-free africa every woman
every man and every child should live a
violence-free life two children ten
children a hundred children they all
deserve to live a balanced real life
mother Teresa once said don’t worry
about the numbers started a person right
next to you and you and you my name is
dr. Kizzy shaco i’m a senior forensic
medical officer working with the
National Police Service as a police
surgeon my blog is when Jackie Mia
breaking the silence and I intend to
start a one-stop center that will be a
model of excellence to be replicated in
all 47 counties in Kenya and beyond
[Applause]
Please follow and like us: