WEBVTT 00:00:03.001 --> 00:00:06.001 These are the voices of grandmothers ranging from their sixties to nineties in the 00:00:06.001 --> 00:00:09.064 Korogocho slums of Nairobi. 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 00:00:14.041 --> 00:00:16.048 especially their sexual rights. 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 00:00:21.058 --> 00:00:26.002 learn the skills to defend myself against attackers. Many grannies have lost 00:00:26.002 --> 00:00:35.000 their lives and some were even raped and hung dead outside of their windows at night. 00:00:35.000 --> 00:00:38.068 Today they are in class to learn how to fight potential violators. 00:00:38.068 --> 00:00:43.061 Sheila Wairimu, was so concerned with the grannies from Korogocho, 00:00:43.061 --> 00:00:45.002 that she started karate classes for them. 00:00:45.002 --> 00:00:49.000 Way back in the year 2005 when we experienced rape, 00:00:49.000 --> 00:00:54.068 especially on grannies who used to be raped and brutally murdered. 00:00:54.068 --> 00:01:00.068 I encountered three cases of old women, who were raped and later brutally 00:01:00.068 --> 00:01:06.048 murdered. So along with my friends we were able to start a self defense team. 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. 00:01:12.000 --> 00:01:18.054 Her classes are free. Despite the fact she herself struggles for money by selling coffee. 00:01:18.054 --> 00:01:24.000 On average she makes about two dollars a day. Hardly enough to sustain her family. 00:01:24.000 --> 00:01:28.036 I sell black coffee very early in the morning at the apartment where I live. 00:01:28.036 --> 00:01:36.000 Sometimes I go to school and ask for paid classes whose proceeds 00:01:36.000 --> 00:01:43.036 we buy flour for the grannies and also pay for the hall in which we train. 00:01:43.036 --> 00:01:48.000 No .. your hand can not protect your face. Always have it at guard 00:01:48.000 --> 00:01:53.001 The self defense training sessions are a home grown response to violent attacks on 00:01:53.001 --> 00:02:00.001 grandmothers in slum. Young bandits here often rape elderly women before or after 00:02:00.001 --> 00:02:05.055 committing a crime. They believe that this will prevent them from being caught. 00:02:05.055 --> 00:02:11.069 Sheila was taught martial arts in 2005 from a volunteer. Now it is Sheila's 00:02:11.069 --> 00:02:12.003 we had an 80 year-old woman who had been gang raped by ten men. 00:02:12.003 --> 00:02:19.000 turn to volunteer. In three years she trained over 60 elderly women in Korogocho. 00:02:19.000 --> 00:02:26.000 I joined this self defense training group because previously, men attacked old women's 00:02:26.000 --> 00:02:34.062 homes and did all sorts of things to us. Many grannies lost their lives. 00:02:34.062 --> 00:02:47.000 I needed to learn how to defend myself instead of always making calls 00:02:47.000 --> 00:02:51.000 for help from neighbours every time my home was attacked. 00:02:51.000 --> 00:02:56.000 Statistics from the largest gender based violence recovery centre in Nairobi indicate 00:02:56.000 --> 00:03:02.001 they treated 4,815 people who were raped between 2008 and 2010. 00:03:02.001 --> 00:03:08.000 4,093 were women. But this is just a fraction of 00:03:08.000 --> 00:03:12.002 the total cases reported nationally as many cases go unreported. 00:03:12.002 --> 00:03:19.076 Since inception in 2001 we treated over 15,300 cases of gender violence survivors. 00:03:19.076 --> 00:03:27.084 Which includes both sexual violence and domestic violence, 00:03:27.084 --> 00:03:30.056 with sexual violence being the highest. 90 percent of these cases are of sexual violence. 00:03:30.056 --> 00:03:39.068 49 percent are women, 45 percent children and around 6 percent are men. 00:03:39.068 --> 00:03:47.088 We do have cases of elderly women. Our oldest client was a 105 year old woman. 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. 00:03:52.084 --> 00:03:56.084 Fact is women's rights remain a sensitive subject in Kenya. 00:03:56.084 --> 00:04:01.017 Making rape a hard crime to convict. 00:04:01.017 --> 00:04:09.000 Sexual violence is one of those private offenses. Firstly its un-African for people 00:04:09.000 --> 00:04:17.000 to discuss sexual or reproductive organs. 00:04:17.000 --> 00:04:19.008 There is still a lot to be done. 00:04:19.008 --> 00:04:27.003 The kind of questions rape survivors are asked de-motivates. 00:04:27.003 --> 00:04:31.067 Despite this, Sheila continues unrelentingly with her endeavor to arm this women with 00:04:31.067 --> 00:04:37.034 the valuable self defense skills and at least restore their self esteem. But why? 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 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. 00:04:51.095 --> 00:05:00.083 Sheila however envisages a future free of rape cases not only here in Korogocho, 00:05:00.083 --> 00:05:05.033 but in other parts of the country where she intends to start similar classes and continue 00:05:05.033 --> 99:59:59.999 with her efforts, to empower more elderly women to defend themselves against violators.