Kenya: Procedural obstacles in securing justice for victims of human trafficking & holding perpetrators accountable
"The challenges Kenya faces in prosecuting human trafficking cases"
On October 1, police rescued 12 women and a child who were being trafficked from Ethiopia...Officers from the Transnational Organised Crime (TOCU) immediately went to court and asked for orders to hold them in police custody. Reason? The police wanted to be given more time to track down their traffickers. Instead of finding a sanctuary, the women found themselves undergoing further trauma at the hands of their “rescuers.” While such persons are not supposed to be held in a police stations, Kenya lacks safe houses for them...
While the Government is seeking to either have churches or county governments to step in or help provide safe houses, victims of human trafficking remain in police cells contrary to the law. According to Lilian Okembo, an officer from the Transnational Organised Crime Unit, at least for children there is the child protection unit while anti-human trafficking lobbies such as HAART Kenya, Trace Kenya and Love Justice International, among others, help in sheltering some but not all the women. While explaining the predicament police officers face whenever they rescue these people, she points out that it is more difficult to find a safe place to keep men other than police cells despite government's concerted efforts in curbing human trafficking...
The Victims Protection Act was assented to by Kenya’s President in September, 2014 and was seen as one of the ways in which the rights of victims as well as accused persons could be protected during prosecution of their cases...But it still remains unclear whether human trafficking victims benefit from this law which was aimed at giving such people support services, protection measures and compensation.Critics have dismissed it as a law meant to delay prosecution of criminal matters in court because previously, victims in criminal cases could only watch silently as their cases proceeded in court and only had to testify. But now they are at liberty to raise any other concern as the trial continues.