IJM - International Justice Mission - a global NGO, is a human rights organization that secures justice for victims of slavery, sexual exploitation and other forms of violent oppression. http://www.ijm.com/web/
January 17, 2014
IJM worked with Kenyan police to find and arrest a school guard who raped 9-year-old Nasimiyu.
NAIROBI, KENYA – Nine-year-old Nasimiyu* was waiting patiently in an empty classroom for her aunt to pick her up after school, just like any normal afternoon.
But, on this day, a man who worked at the school as a guard saw the little girl waiting alone. He sent her to collect something from a storage closet, then followed her inside, locked the door and raped her. After the attack, he disappeared from town.
Nasimiyu and her family were left devastated. They reported the rape to police, but, to them, it seemed impossible that her attacker would ever be caught. The police had few resources to pursue the case or find the guard. Without help, Nasimiyu’s case could sit unresolved for years—like thousands of other Kenyan girls before her.
But police in Nairobi enlisted the help of IJM, who they knew had success in investigating similar cases. IJM worked relentlessly with them over the next four months to track down the guard and find where he was hiding, in a town 140 miles away. When the team moved in for the arrest, the man tried to flee, but police caught him escaping through a back door. He was brought back to Nairobi and finally put on trial for the rape.
Seeing their daughter’s attacker held accountable was more than Nasimiyu’s parents had dreamed.
One IJM investigator says, “With nowhere else to turn, the parents had begun to lose hope that their daughter’s abuser would one day face the justice system. We felt our involvement to be so worthwhile in this particular arrest.”
For more than a year, IJM attorneys defended Nasimiyu in court and IJM social workers supported her family. They made sure the little girl was receiving counselling to heal from the abuse and helped her prepare to share the truth about what happened in court.
On January 16, 2014, the judge found the man who assaulted Nasimiyu guilty and sentenced him to 20 years in prison.
Nasimiyu, now 11 years old, is studying safely at a boarding school with lots of support from her parents.
*A pseudonym.
January 17, 2014
IJM worked with Kenyan police to find and arrest a school guard who raped 9-year-old Nasimiyu.
NAIROBI, KENYA – Nine-year-old Nasimiyu* was waiting patiently in an empty classroom for her aunt to pick her up after school, just like any normal afternoon.
But, on this day, a man who worked at the school as a guard saw the little girl waiting alone. He sent her to collect something from a storage closet, then followed her inside, locked the door and raped her. After the attack, he disappeared from town.
Nasimiyu and her family were left devastated. They reported the rape to police, but, to them, it seemed impossible that her attacker would ever be caught. The police had few resources to pursue the case or find the guard. Without help, Nasimiyu’s case could sit unresolved for years—like thousands of other Kenyan girls before her.
But police in Nairobi enlisted the help of IJM, who they knew had success in investigating similar cases. IJM worked relentlessly with them over the next four months to track down the guard and find where he was hiding, in a town 140 miles away. When the team moved in for the arrest, the man tried to flee, but police caught him escaping through a back door. He was brought back to Nairobi and finally put on trial for the rape.
Seeing their daughter’s attacker held accountable was more than Nasimiyu’s parents had dreamed.
One IJM investigator says, “With nowhere else to turn, the parents had begun to lose hope that their daughter’s abuser would one day face the justice system. We felt our involvement to be so worthwhile in this particular arrest.”
For more than a year, IJM attorneys defended Nasimiyu in court and IJM social workers supported her family. They made sure the little girl was receiving counselling to heal from the abuse and helped her prepare to share the truth about what happened in court.
On January 16, 2014, the judge found the man who assaulted Nasimiyu guilty and sentenced him to 20 years in prison.
Nasimiyu, now 11 years old, is studying safely at a boarding school with lots of support from her parents.
*A pseudonym.
No comments:
Post a Comment