1 00:00:03,001 --> 00:00:06,001 These are the voices of grandmothers ranging from their sixties to nineties in the 2 00:00:06,001 --> 00:00:09,064 Korogocho slums of Nairobi. 3 00:00:09,064 --> 00:00:14,041 This is their version of a war cry. As they fight to defend their human rights and 4 00:00:14,041 --> 00:00:16,048 especially their sexual rights. 5 00:00:16,048 --> 00:00:21,058 I joined this karate training group because of the kind of lives we live here. I wanted to 6 00:00:21,058 --> 00:00:26,002 learn the skills to defend myself against attackers. Many grannies have lost 7 00:00:26,002 --> 00:00:35,000 their lives and some were even raped and hung dead outside of their windows at night. 8 00:00:35,000 --> 00:00:38,068 Today they are in class to learn how to fight potential violators. 9 00:00:38,068 --> 00:00:43,061 Sheila Wairimu, was so concerned with the grannies from Korogocho, 10 00:00:43,061 --> 00:00:45,002 that she started karate classes for them. 11 00:00:45,002 --> 00:00:49,000 Way back in the year 2005 when we experienced rape, 12 00:00:49,000 --> 00:00:54,068 especially on grannies who used to be raped and brutally murdered. 13 00:00:54,068 --> 00:01:00,068 I encountered three cases of old women, who were raped and later brutally 14 00:01:00,068 --> 00:01:06,048 murdered. So along with my friends we were able to start a self defense team. 15 00:01:06,048 --> 00:01:12,000 The single mother of one spends two days in a week training the elderly women in karate. 16 00:01:12,000 --> 00:01:18,054 Her classes are free. Despite the fact she herself struggles for money by selling coffee. 17 00:01:18,054 --> 00:01:24,000 On average she makes about two dollars a day. Hardly enough to sustain her family. 18 00:01:24,000 --> 00:01:28,036 I sell black coffee very early in the morning at the apartment where I live. 19 00:01:28,036 --> 00:01:36,000 Sometimes I go to school and ask for paid classes whose proceeds 20 00:01:36,000 --> 00:01:43,036 we buy flour for the grannies and also pay for the hall in which we train. 21 00:01:43,036 --> 00:01:48,000 No .. your hand can not protect your face. Always have it at guard 22 00:01:48,000 --> 00:01:53,001 The self defense training sessions are a home grown response to violent attacks on 23 00:01:53,001 --> 00:02:00,001 grandmothers in slum. Young bandits here often rape elderly women before or after 24 00:02:00,001 --> 00:02:05,055 committing a crime. They believe that this will prevent them from being caught. 25 00:02:05,055 --> 00:02:11,069 Sheila was taught martial arts in 2005 from a volunteer. Now it is Sheila's 26 00:02:11,069 --> 00:02:12,003 we had an 80 year-old woman who had been gang raped by ten men. 27 00:02:12,003 --> 00:02:19,000 turn to volunteer. In three years she trained over 60 elderly women in Korogocho. 28 00:02:19,000 --> 00:02:26,000 I joined this self defense training group because previously, men attacked old women's 29 00:02:26,000 --> 00:02:34,062 homes and did all sorts of things to us. Many grannies lost their lives. 30 00:02:34,062 --> 00:02:47,000 I needed to learn how to defend myself instead of always making calls 31 00:02:47,000 --> 00:02:51,000 for help from neighbours every time my home was attacked. 32 00:02:51,000 --> 00:02:56,000 Statistics from the largest gender based violence recovery centre in Nairobi indicate 33 00:02:56,000 --> 00:03:02,001 they treated 4,815 people who were raped between 2008 and 2010. 34 00:03:02,001 --> 00:03:08,000 4,093 were women. But this is just a fraction of 35 00:03:08,000 --> 00:03:12,002 the total cases reported nationally as many cases go unreported. 36 00:03:12,002 --> 00:03:19,076 Since inception in 2001 we treated over 15,300 cases of gender violence survivors. 37 00:03:19,076 --> 00:03:27,084 Which includes both sexual violence and domestic violence, 38 00:03:27,084 --> 00:03:30,056 with sexual violence being the highest. 90 percent of these cases are of sexual violence. 39 00:03:30,056 --> 00:03:39,068 49 percent are women, 45 percent children and around 6 percent are men. 40 00:03:39,068 --> 00:03:47,088 We do have cases of elderly women. Our oldest client was a 105 year old woman. 41 00:03:47,088 --> 00:03:52,084 Just last week we had an 80 year old woman who had been gang raped by ten men. 42 00:03:52,084 --> 00:03:56,084 Fact is women's rights remain a sensitive subject in Kenya. 43 00:03:56,084 --> 00:04:01,017 Making rape a hard crime to convict. 44 00:04:01,017 --> 00:04:09,000 Sexual violence is one of those private offenses. Firstly its un-African for people 45 00:04:09,000 --> 00:04:17,000 to discuss sexual or reproductive organs. 46 00:04:17,000 --> 00:04:19,008 There is still a lot to be done. 47 00:04:19,008 --> 00:04:27,003 The kind of questions rape survivors are asked de-motivates. 48 00:04:27,003 --> 00:04:31,067 Despite this, Sheila continues unrelentingly with her endeavor to arm this women with 49 00:04:31,067 --> 00:04:37,034 the valuable self defense skills and at least restore their self esteem. But why? 50 00:04:37,034 --> 00:04:43,051 My heart goes out to the grannies because of what they were going through and seeing that 51 00:04:43,051 --> 00:04:51,095 because of age, they are old and frail, nobody is able to stand up and fight for them. 52 00:04:51,095 --> 00:05:00,083 Sheila however envisages a future free of rape cases not only here in Korogocho, 53 00:05:00,083 --> 00:05:05,033 but in other parts of the country where she intends to start similar classes and continue 54 00:05:05,033 --> 99:59:59,999 with her efforts, to empower more elderly women to defend themselves against violators.