Human Rights Center

This report presents the objectives, discussion, and findings of the Sexual Offences Act Implementation Workshop, held in Naivasha, Kenya, 25–27 May, 2011. It serves as the full record of three days of discussion and provides a background to Workshop participants’ final recommendations for improved implementation of Kenya’s Sexual Offences Act.

The idea of such a convening was first conceptualized by the University of California’s Human Rights Center, in the context of research conducted by its Sexual Violence and Accountability Project. The Workshop was then brought to fruition in conjunction with Kenya’s Task Force on the Implementation of the Sexual Offences Act and the Workshop Steering Committee. Along with the Task Force, the Steering Committee included representatives from Liverpool VCT Care and Treatment (LVCT), Federation of Women Lawyers-Kenya (FIDA-K), International Commission of Jurists -Kenya (ICJ-K), Coalition on Violence Against Women (COVAW), Center for Rights Education and Awareness (CREAW), the German Development Cooperation (GIZ), AIDS Free World, and the Human Rights Center, University of California, Berkeley (HRC).

The overarching objective of the convening was to improve implementation of Kenya’s 2006 Sexual Offences Act (SOA) by bringing together more than eighty six participants drawn from a cross-section of government and civil society organizations. They came from around the country to discuss sectoral capacity challenges and explore ways to improve the overall process of protection envisioned by the Act.