With mounting unrest across the country, Kenyan officials should immediately deescalate tensions and abide by international human rights law, Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) said today. PHR is gravely concerned about excessive force deployed by security forces against demonstrators over recent months as well as the potential for an increase in sexual violence.   “Under both […]

For more than 35 years, Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) has worked at the intersection of medicine, science, and law to end human suffering, save lives, and secure justice and universal human rights for all. Read about our impact in our 2022 Annual Report.

Executive Summary Background Sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) is a global health crisis. More than 730 million women worldwide have experienced physical or sexual violence at least once in their lifetime.[1] In Kenya, the Demographic and Health Survey of 2022 showed that 34 percent of women and girls[2] surveyed reported having experienced physical violence at […]

Using a participatory methodology called Photovoice, a group of survivors of sexual violence in Nairobi set out to document their journey to seek out and access mental health care.

NAIROBI– Survivors of sexual violence in Kenya face barriers to quality mental health services in their communities, according to a new assessment co-published today by Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) and the Survivors of Sexual Violence in Kenya Network (SSVKenya), which is convened by the Wangu Kanja Foundation.   The new assessment, Voicing Our Plight: […]

This study sought to understand the experiences of survivors of sexual violence in Kenya as they accessed mental health services. Survivors’ experiences are vital to document and have important advocacy and policy implications related to the provision of mental health services and survivor-centered care within their communities. Context Sexual violence affects millions of people of […]

As we mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, we continue to challenge ourselves to understand what works and what doesn’t, using rigorous, scientific, and trauma-informed approaches.  

Ahead of Kenya’s general election on August 9, Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) warns of potential election-related violence, including sexual violence, and calls on the Government of Kenya to proactively enact policies and plans to both prevent and respond to any violence perpetrated around the upcoming vote.   At least since the 1990s, elections in Kenya […]

Today 11human rights organizations that champion the right to be free from all forms of sexual and gender-based violence welcomed the signing into law of the Mental Health (Amendment) Act, 2022 by H.E. President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya. This comes after the Kenyan Senate unanimously passed the Mental Health Amendment Bill on June 21, 2022. […]

Some 47 percent of Kenyan women and girls aged 15-49 have suffered physical or sexual violence, a figure that rises even higher in periods of conflict and upheaval. During widespread violence that ripped through Kenya in the wake of 2007 elections, at least 900 women, girls, men, and boys suffered sexual and gender-based violence. Very […]

NAIROBI — A group of survivors of 2007-2008 election-related sexual violence in Kenya and civil society organizations today filed a partial appeal at the Court of Appeal at Nairobi, asserting that a High Court decision delivered on December 10, 2020 failed to recognize the Government of Kenya’s responsibility to survivors previously denied redress for the state’s failure to […]

Justin Nyatete Nyakundi is a senior investigations officer working with Kenya’s Independent Policing Oversight Authority based at the Nakuru Regional Office, where he conducts investigations into crimes committed by members of the National Police Service. He is retired from Kenya’s National Police Service, where he served for 14 years as a police officer and worked […]

Livingston Musumba is a practicing information and communications consultant with more than 30 years of experience in the industry. He has served in various senior positions in both private and public sectors before starting an ICT consulting firm in September 2005.   Musumba has vast experience in implementing and developing solutions in the health care […]

Polycarp Kweyu Lutta serves as a gazetted government forensic analyst at the Government Forensic Crime Laboratory in Kenya. He works with forensic investigations requiring DNA and serological analyses of samples as part of technical support to national investigative agencies, including the National Police Service and Directorate of Criminal Investigation Organization as well as human rights […]

“It’s been a total nightmare. I’ve called eight different government and private facilities today alone trying to schedule a vaccine appointment for my parents. Each facility has a different set of rules; some even charge for the vaccine – none had available appointments.” That’s how Suzanne Kidenda, program officer for the Physicians for Human Rights […]

March is Women’s History Month: 31 days to celebrate the contributions of women throughout the ages. Unfortunately, the stories of too many influential women have been lost to time. In honor of International Women’s Day on March 8 and Women’s History Month, PHR is profiling extraordinary women who have made an impact in the movement […]

NAIROBI — In a landmark judgement, the High Court in Nairobi today ruled in favor of four survivors of post-election sexual violence in Kenya. In Constitutional Petition No. 122 of 2013, the Court found that the Government of Kenya was responsible for a “failure to conduct independent and effective investigations and prosecutions of SGBV [sexual […]

Originally published on Citizen Digital On December 10, the High Court in Nairobi is scheduled to finally deliver a decision on Petition 122 of 2013, which seeks to secure justice for survivors of sexual and gender-based violence during the 2007/2008 post-election violence. This is a dramatic development in a case that has languished in the […]

Originally published by Sexual Violence Research Initiative (SVRI). Also available in French and Spanish. Researchers often grapple with a major challenge when researching sexual violence or evaluating programs focused on sexual violence—how to collect information without retraumatizing survivors. Gathering accurate data from survivors of sexual violence is essential to document or develop programs for their […]

Originally published on Devex, November 25, 2020. While infectious diseases – measles, flu, polio, tuberculosis, severe acute respiratory syndrome, malaria, Ebola, HIV/AIDS, COVID-19 – have swept the globe, with the lowest-income communities bearing the brunt of suffering and death, there is one other pandemic that has surpassed and outlasted them all: sexual and gender-based violence, especially domestic […]

COVID-19 is on the rise in Kenya, where there have been approximately 12,000 confirmed cases of the disease and 217 deaths. Dr. Angeline Ithondeka is the medical superintendant of Naivasha County Referral Hospital in Nakuru, Kenya, northwest of Nairobi, which is a longtime partner of Physicians for Human Rights. Though Nakuru County has had relatively […]

Originally published in The Star on January 17, 2020 In the aftermath of the 2007-08 post-election violence, the Commission of Inquiry into the Post-Election Violence (Waki Commission) documented more than 900 sexual violence cases perpetrated by security agents and civilians against women, girls, men and boys. During this tragic period, Kenya saw large-scale bloodshed, mass […]

NAIROBI– Institutional weaknesses undermine the prevention of and response to sexual violence during electoral periods in Kenya, according to a new report published today by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Physicians for Human Rights (PHR), and UN Women. Since the 1990s, elections in Kenya have been marred by […]

In Kenya, sexual violence has been a recurrent feature of elections, which have been marred by deadly violence, unrest and serious human rights violations and abuses.

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Science and Human Rights Coalition recognized Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) as the 2019 Science and Human Rights Innovator for its trailblazing MediCapt app. MediCapt is a mobile application that helps clinicians more effectively collect, document, and securely store forensic medical evidence of sexual violence to […]