Kenya: All Cultures NOT equal.

Of course and naturally, one can say - but look at your own, the priests abused ...

And if we tallied the total number of priests world-wide (not in the US - my culture) how many do you think?  1/2%, 1%, 2% ?  I think the number is somewhere around 1-2%.  It is not an American phenomena nor a Catholic phenomena for there are 1 billion Catholics and over 400,000 priests.  The 2% would be 8,000.  Further, that is world-wide, in every country, every culture, every social strata.  Kenyan abuse is localized in one place and the number is 1,000.  Just as the call for the church to clean its house, with questions of whether priests should be allowed to marry (which is irrelevant given which gender is abusing which gender for the most part) and what is wrong in the church ... I wonder what is possibly wrong in Kenya and I am willing to go out on a limb and consider the possibility this behavior occurs in a few other countries, as widespread or even more so.





1,000 Kenyan Teachers Fired for Sexually Abusing Young Girls




Firing of Teachers Underscores the Bigger Problem of Sexual Abuse in Africa



By DANA HUGHES
NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct. 8, 2010 —
ABC News


More than 1,000 teachers have been fired for sexually abusing girls over the last two years, according to a new report from the Kenyan government. Last year, 600 teachers were dismissed over allegations of sexual abuse, and 500 more have been let go this year. The allegations range from inappropriate kissing and touching to impregnating girls as young as 12.

Although the number of reported cases represents less than half of 1 percent of Kenya's 240,000 teachers, the firings underscore a serious epidemic of sexual abuse in the country, say child advocacy and women's rights groups.

"In this year's report of abuse in relation to children, sexual violence topped the list at 86 percent," said Brian Weke, the program manager of the Cradle, a Kenyan child advocacy group. The report states the highest number of abusers were fathers, followed closely by neighbors and teachers. Weke said he'd witnessed the abuse himself while visiting an elementary school in western Kenya where a teacher had impregnated at least 10 girls.

The extent of sexual abuse in Kenya came to light after the government set up a hotline for the victims. "Initially, we were not able to know what was happening in the country because of the poor communication, but now communication is everywhere. There's mobile [phones] across the country," Ahmed Hussein, the director of children's services at the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Development, told the BBC.

Hussein said that some of the teachers had already been arrested and prosecuted. Many, however, were simply fired and sent home.

Technically, it is against Kenyan law for an adult to have sex with a minor under the age of 18, but the law is hard to enforce, particularly in rural areas. The victim's family has to press charges and become heavily involved in the investigation, so most accused sexual abusers escape prosecution.

In the case of teachers, the accused and school officials often pay off the the girl's family, who is often poor, to keep the family from prosecuting.

Education for girls, particularly in rural areas of Kenya, still remains a struggle. Once they reach their preteen years, girls are kept at home to help their mothers care for younger siblings, carry water and maintain the household. In some communities, tradition still dictates that teenage girls can be married off by their parents. A girl attending school who's from a poor, uneducated family is especially vulnerable to abuse.

"One of the reasons & these girls are susceptible to abuse is & that [parents] are illiterate and don't know what constitutes abuse," said Weke. "They have no proper capacity and means to protect their children."

Kenya's Hotline Encourages Reporting of Abuse

The fact that the Kenyan government is acknowledging the problem is considered progress. Kenya is one of only 14 countries to have a hotline encouraging victims to report abuse. While more countries in Africa are acknowledging it, sexual abuse isn't widely talked about, let alone reported.

It's often considered secondary to health care and having access to water and food. "As we are focusing on economic and social rights, we need to make sure we are protecting our children," said Weke. "It is high time that we comprehensively start dealing with cases of sexual violence."

Allocating money for programs to protect children is as important to the future of Africa as any other social or economic project, said Weke. "They should actually go hand in hand."

















kenya

Kenya, Tanzania - two more countries we should mend fences.

Kenya mob burns 15 women to death over witchcraft

May 21 11:36 AM US/Eastern

A rampaging mob in western Kenya burnt 15 women accused of witchcraft to death, a local official and villagers told AFP Wednesday.

"This is unacceptable. People must not take the law into their own hands simply because they suspected someone," said Mwangi Ngunyi, the head of Nyamaiya district. "We will hunt the suspects down," he added.

The gang of about 100 people moved from house to house late Tuesday, tied up their victims and set them ablaze, the official said.

Ngunyi added that the mob also torched 50 houses in Nyakeo village, located some 300 kilometres (180 miles) northwest of the capital Nairobi.

"I can't believe my wife of many years would be killed so brutally by people who cannot prove their case even before God," said Enoch Obiero, a pastor.

"My mother has always been a role model to the entire village and why the mob had to kill her will remain a mystery to me forever," lamented 32-year-old Emily Monari.

The region, populated mainly by the Kisii tribe, has been dubbed Kenya's "sorcery belt" due to mob attacks on women suspected of witchcraft.

Efforts by the authorities to clamp down on vigilante and mob justice have been unsuccessful.
Dozens of suspected people were killed in western Kenya in the 1990s, amid allegations of sorcery.

Several cases were also reported in recent months in neighbouring Tanzania, forcing President Jakaya Kikwete to order special protection for albino, who were being murdered and mutilated for good luck by witch-doctors.

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Yep, sure hope we have not offended Kenya or Tanzania in the last seven years. We sure should apologize to them, for something. Probably for us being witches. I just put my hat away and broom in the closet. When they come to burn my house down, let's do it outside, I'd rather not have the entire house burned down with just me in it.

It boggles my mind that some people believe all cultures the same, equal, that all is relative.

This story is a good example why they are foolishly, naively mistaken.

Where is that UN race specialist. Witches are not a separate race, but albinos could be distinguished as such by their skin.

I think I will write a letter to the UN requesting they send a specialist to Tanzania to review their country for racial attacks (given who/what albinos are - they would qualify since race seems to be so much about skin color. Something, by the way, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. tried to get us to look beyond.) Something useful.

Unlikely. They aren't the US.

Unrest while we diddle

AP, Kenya, Election unrest. April 2008






AFP, and in Chad more unrest





UNREST - What a euphemism.