The appalling sanitation infrastructure in the slums of Nairobi is a significant cause of gender-based violence. In its recent report "Insecurity and Indignity: Women’s Experiences in the Slums of Nairobi", Amnesty International spotlights this oft-neglected dimension of the environmental security debate. According to the report, the Kenyan government is taking steps to tackle the lack of sanitary facilities as part of its efforts to implement the Millennium Development Goals. However, progress is halting at best and the real risk for women of becoming victims of violence is not being addressed.



A contributing factor in this situation is that slums remain a blind spot in urban planning budgets. For instance, Kibera, an informal settlement with over a million inhabitants, has no police post. The consequences have been vividly described by Godfrey Odongo, an East Africa researcher at Amnesty International: "Women in Nairobi’s settlements become prisoners in their own homes at night and sometimes well before it is dark." Rape is rampant, but like other violent crimes against women, often goes unpunished. The negative health impacts on women are obvious. According to Amnesty it would be a step forward if the government were to enforce existing regulations that require land owners to provide sanitary facilities. Yet even this is an unlikely prospect. (Dennis Taenzler)



The report can be downloaded here.

Published in: ECC-Newsletter, August 2010