Man rises from gang rape trauma to GBV advocacy

In 2007, WW ran a booming midsized shop in Kibera with a promising future but it quickly fizzled when a gang of over 35 men raided it and gang-raped him before looting everything.

He had just sold his land up country at half a million shillings to get the business going but at the height of the post-election lawlessness, the man lost his investment, got violated and his family survived by the skin of their teeth.

Though the ordeal turned his world upside down, 18 years on, it has turned him into an activist, leading the charge against gender-based violence, especially where men are the victims.

The man living with albinism was 30 years old at the time and a father of two. It was at around 8pm and he was closing down for the day.

Being a popular shop at the time in the Soweto area of Kibera, customers would come in droves, but one group came pretending they wanted to buy but their visit changed his life forever.

The well-built marauding men stormed the shop, demanded that he gives them all the monies he had made in the day and also declared that “you are our food today.”

“The men were close to 40 when they stormed the shop. They pretended they were shopping for this and that but suddenly grabbed me, demanding that I give the proceeds of the day. Also, they said I was the food for the day,” WW narrated to the Star.

Worse, he says, he heard the men say to each other that violating him would cure their disease. “There was a myth that if one had sex with a person living with albinism, they would get cured from diseases, including HIV. I later learnt that the men were sick and believed assaulting me would cure them.”

And it went downhill from there. The assailants hit his head with a panga, sending him to the ground, and then sexually violated him until he was unconscious. He would only wake up at a hospital in pain.

Arising from the experience was a tall order for him. The ordeal put his marriage on the brink. It took much counselling and therapy to rise from depression, hopelessness and suicidal thoughts following the attack.

But, almost two decades later, WW says he uses his ordeal as a platform for advocacy, raising awareness on male-victim violence and encouraging them to open up to not only receive help but also broaden the conversation on gender-based violence.

“Men suffer in silence and in turn become purveyors of gender-based violence. I have become an advocate of safe ways of dealing with all forms of aggression, and also on sexual and reproductive health,” he said.

“Especially during times like International Women’s Day when focus is on social justice issues affecting women, the society must also be told that men are also survivors and who live with scars of social injustice. I also highlight the rights of people living with disability.”

WW has forgiven those who sodomised him and destroyed his life, saying vengeance is only for God. Nelius Njuguna, a programme adviser on legal affairs and access to Justice at Kenya Commission on Human Rights, says that voices like that of WW are crucial for effective advocacy against GBV and femicide as they make the campaign not to be a women affair only.

“Men are often overlooked in discussions about gender-based violence. It is rare to hear men sharing their experiences as survivors, and few men speak out against GBV. It is high time that men are empowered and actively involved in addressing GBV, recognising that they are often perpetrators and they can also be victims,” Njuguna said.

“This is why, under the Programme for Legal Empowerment and Aid Delivery in Kenya, Kenya Human Rights Commission has placed men at the front and centre of our efforts to empower them as champions against GBV. And it is bearing fruits.”