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CATEGORIES:Centre of African Studies Michaelmas Seminars
SUMMARY:The Prosecution of Rape in Wartime: Evidence From 
  Kenya\, 1952-1960 - David Anderson\, University o
 f Warwick
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20131111T170000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20131111T180000
UID:TALK48365AThttp://talks.cam.ac.uk
URL:http://talks.cam.ac.uk/talk/index/48365
DESCRIPTION:In July 2012\, a landmark hearing before the High 
 Court in London found that the British government 
 had a case to answer concerning human rights abuse
 s\, including torture and rapes\, allegedly carrie
 d out by British colonialists in Kenya\, during th
 e Mau Mau counter-insurgency of the 1950s. Amongst
  the four elderly Kenyan claimants in court that d
 ay was a Kikuyu woman\, Jane Mara\, whose testimon
 y related the sexual abuses she suffered.    This 
 was the first time that such a story of sexual cri
 mes in the former colonies had been laid before a 
 British court\, but for Kenyans the detail of thes
 e claims was all too familiar.\n\nThis article use
 s new documentary evidence on rape from Kenya in t
 he 1950s\, corroborating and enlarging upon the le
 gal and oral testimonies and memoirs that have bee
 n recounted in recent court proceedings.  Accusati
 ons of rapes and sexual assaults by state security
  personnel are littered through the substantial bo
 dy of new archival material that has been released
  as a consequence of the Mau Mau compensation case
  mounted in the High Court in London from 2011 to 
 2013.    Known collectively as the Hanslope Disclo
 sure\, and covering 36 other former British coloni
 es as well as Kenya\, this body of material (nearl
 y 9\,000 files in all) includes approximately 600 
 files dealing with the administration of the Kenya
 n rebellion.  A significant number of these files 
 relate specifically to the investigation and prose
 cution of allegations against the security forces 
 between 1953 and 1959\, including cases of rape an
 d sexual other crimes.\n\nThis documentary evidenc
 e is powerful and important precisely because it r
 elates to specific cases where investigations – an
 d sometimes prosecutions - were initiated by the s
 tate. These assaults were committed upon civilian 
 Kikuyu women by African and British agents of the 
 colonial state.  Decisions to prosecute related to
  the discipline and control of the security forces
 .  For the colonial authorities\, rape was a “diff
 icult” charge\, and many more case were notified t
 han were ultimately prosecuted.    The evidence on
  these cases thus provides a unique insight as to 
 the way that rape in was treated in a colonial con
 text during the 1950s\, and adds to the small but 
 growing body of literature that addresses the ques
 tion of how sexual crimes are (or are not) prosecu
 ted in wartime.  Rape in 1950s Kenya was not a “we
 apon of war”\, but it was a widespread and potent 
 element of the counter-insurgency.
LOCATION:Seminar Room S1 Alison Richard Building\, 7 West R
 oad\, Cambridge CB3 9DT
CONTACT:Judith Weik
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