A report released by Nairobi Women’s Hospital on March 12 details over 400 cases of sexual abuses during post-election violence.

The report said between December and last month, there were up to 443 victims of sexual assault. The report says 149 of the cases involved minors, mainly girls who were sexually molested.  It adds that an average of 30 victims sought medical attention at the hospital daily.

Thirteen children were raped, but received comprehensive medical examination and treatment at the institution. The report says most of the perpetrators were gangs of unknown young men. It adds that some victims were raped with up to 11 youths and further shows that seven of those victims were already HIV positive and hence the disease the disease may have spread to the attackers.

The hospital’s project manager, Ms Teresa Omondi said the victims who went to hospital were traumatised, anxious and scared. The children, she said sustained serious injuries and majority had to be admitted for proper care.

Of the 162 cases admitted, 56 were minors. The youngest was aged two. The worst case, the project manager says the worst case they treated was that of a child whose parent poured hot tea on tea. She said some parents had also physically assaulted their children during the post-elections crisis.

Over half of the people treated were from Nairobi, followed by Kiambu, Nakuru, Naivasha, Eldoret, Makueni, Machakos, and Ongata Rongai.

The hospitals chief executive office, Dr. Sam Thenya, said majority of the sexual abuse victims did not seek treatment due to stigma and fear. “It was difficult to provide treatment to prevent them from contracting HIV/Aids.” He said added that some of the rape victims were also likely to get pregnant.

So far more than 150,000 survivors of post-election violence have received counseling at crisis centers countrywide.