Kenya Sexual Offences Act Report Launch

We are pleased to announce the launch of the workshop report from the 2011 Sexual Offences Act Implementation Workshop held in Naivasha, Kenya. Project director Kim Thuy Seelinger is in Nairobi today for the launch. Convened by the Human Rights Center, the workshop brought together key actors from government and civil society to address accountability for sexual and gender-based violence. The meeting was prompted by local concerns that the country's 2006 Sexual Offences Act had not been effectively implemented due to challenges in cross-sector cooperation, leading to widespread impunity. An historic event, the workshop produced immediate outcomes including a request from Kenya's then-attorney general, the honorable Amos Wako, to draft an amendment to the act that would change problematic provisions and add funding for a permanent national oversight body. Following the meeting, participants developed an implementation plan, which has been endorsed by the attorney general and is detailed in the Workshop report. Partners include: Task Force on the Implementation of the Sexual Offences Act Federation of Women Lawyers - Kenya Liverpool VCT International Commission of Jurists (ICJ-Kenya) Coalition on Violence Against Women (COVAW) Center for Rights Education and Awareness (CREAW) AIDS-Free World

The workshop received major funding from the Open Society Institute's International Women's Program. Additional funding for HRC's Sexual Violence and Accountability Project comes from the MacArthur Foundation and Humanity United. We are grateful for the widespread support of this project

and optimistic about the prospects of improving accountability for sexual violence in Kenya. Sincerely, Camille Crittenden Executive Director

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