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Survivors of sexual violence during the 2007/08 post-election unrest have voiced frustration over yet another delay in the delivery of a long-awaited judgment in their appeal case.
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The ruling, which was expected on Friday, April 25, 2025, had already been postponed from its initial date of April 11, 2025, by the Court of Appeal.
According to a statement from stakeholders in the case, the survivors have been fighting for justice in the courts for more than 12 years. “For the victims and survivors of post-election sexual violence, this is yet another painful setback after over 17 years of waiting,” the statement reads.
They are calling on both the media and the public to hold the judiciary and government accountable for their inaction and insufficient response to the survivors’ suffering and fundamental human rights.
The appeal stems from Constitutional Petition No. 122 of 2013, filed in the High Court by eight survivors of sexual and gender-based violence — six women and two men — who endured horrific abuse during the 2007–2008 post-election crisis. Three women were allegedly gang-raped by police officers, while the others were attacked by civilians. The two male survivors, who were minors at the time, were forcibly circumcised by ethnic militia.
The case is supported by several rights organisations including the Utu Wetu Trust, Physicians for Human Rights (PHR), Independent Medico-Legal Unit (IMLU), International Commission of Jurists – Kenya (ICJ-K), Coalition on Violence Against Women (COVAW), Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR), Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC), and the Constitution and Reform Education Consortium (CRECO). Katiba Institute and REDRESS are participating as Amicus Curiae.
In 2020, the High Court ruled in favour of four petitioners who were abused by police or whose cases involved official neglect, awarding them Sh4 million in compensation. However, the other four survivors — whose cases involved civilian perpetrators and lacked official police reports — had their claims dismissed.
The Court of Appeal was expected to rule on whether survivors attacked by civilians — and who were unable to report the crimes due to widespread insecurity, trauma, stigma, or displacement — are still entitled to state protection and compensation.
The appeal also challenges the High Court’s refusal to issue broader structural orders that would compel the state to set up formal systems for documenting and compensating all victims of post-election sexual violence.
