APRM • SECOND COUNTRY REVIEW REPORT OF THE REPUBLIC OF KENYA spousal physical or sexual violence. The major perpetrators are husbands, indicating the pervasiveness of intimate partner violence. Women with disabilities continue to suffer from multiple forms of SGBV but as a result of their marginalisation in mainstream society, under reporting and recourse to legal remedies is the norm. 192. The government has passed several laws with intense lobbying by women’s groups and activists to regulate against violence in the private and public sphere. The Protection against Domestic Violence Act 2 of 2015 contains an expansive definition of domestic violence in the private and cultural sphere and outlaws various harmful traditional practices; it is one of the comprehensive laws in this regard in the region. Despite these positive laws, a large proportion of Kenyan women and girls remain unaware of the laws that protect them, and underreporting of violence occurs as a result. Other reasons for under reporting intimate partner violence is due to social taboos that discourage reporting and economic dependence on the perpetrators. 193. The enactment of the Sexual Offences Act, 2010 widened the spectrum of protections available against sexual and gender based violence (SGBV) including sexual harassment, child trafficking, prostitution and sex tourism. The absence of SGBV specific sentencing guidelines in the Judiciary has often contributed to inconsistencies in sentencing crimes of SGBV. In laying down mandatory minimum sentences and maximum sentences for crimes the Sexual Offences Act ensures that the judiciary must apply justice for victims and this is emphasised in the Sentencing Policy Guidelines of the Judiciary. 194. FGM is on the decline in Kenya; in 2012 the UN ranked Kenya highest among the countries with FGM reduction in Africa.13 The KDHS 2014 Report showed that 21% of women age 15 to 49 had been circumcised; this is a decline from the statistics indicated in the KDHS 2008 to 2009 that noted a gradual decline in circumcised women, from 38% in 1998 to 32% in 2003 and to 27% in 2008 to 2009. The Prohibition of Female Genital Mutilation Act, 2011 provides a legal framework in stamping out this harmful traditional practice. A multi-dimensional stakeholder National Committee for the Abandonment of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) was established to address the elimination of the practice and has developed multipronged strategy to convince communities to abandon this practice in girls. The work of CSOs in this regard has underpinned government efforts. 195. The various conflicts in Kenya have negatively affected women’s rights to bodily integrity to extreme lengths in the past. The overall number of women and girls raped during the post-election violence was estimated at 1500 and women and girls constituted 63.9% of the IDPs in six camps. Fourteen victims and witnesses testified to the Inquiry on postelection violence to being raped both by civilian individuals, organised gangs and security forces and to being sexually exploited by humanitarian workers and IPD service providers.14 13 14 UN Joint Programme On Gender Equality And Women’s Empowerment Annual Report 2012 Post-Election violence Report page 253-50 | 111 |