Wairimu 65, was raped by a group of men — her husband blames her for the rape, and beats and verbally abuses her. Picture: Samer Muscati/Human Rights Watch.

Subjected to a brutal gang rape, her suffering is far from over after being left with brain injuries so severe, her sister, also a gang rape survivor, has to help her use a toilet.

Then there’s another story — a man now in his 80s, whose two daughters were gang-raped in front of him.

The gang ordered him to take part, and when he refused he was subjected to the same brutal treatment.

More than eight years after violence engulfed Kenya in the aftermath of the December 2007 elections, hundreds of rape survivors are still waiting for help.

These men, women and children are the forgotten survivors of the brutal violence which has worsened by the Kenyan government’s failure to provide medical care, psychosocial support, monetary compensation, and other redress.

Their horrific stories form part of a new Human Rights Watch report‘I Just Sit and Wait to Die’: Reparations for Survivors of Kenya’s 2007-2008 Post-Election Sexual Violence.

One man was attacked by a group of youths in January 2008. They beat and gang-raped his two daughters who have since died and then gang-raped him. Picture: Samer Muscati/Human Rights WatchSource:Supplied

The 104-page report is based on interviews with 163 women and girls, nine male survivors, and witnesses of rape or other sexual violence in the post-election period.

It also calls on the Kenyan Government to act to help, fast.

But for people like the father who lost his daughters, the damage has already been done.

His horror began when a group of men came and accused him of taking away their wealth and for that they were going to teach him a lesson.

“They beat and raped both my daughters; so many of them,” he told Human Rights Watch.

“Then they told me to rape my children. I refused.”

They beat him severely, breaking his chin and cracking his skull.

“They did a very bad thing to me,” he said.

“They made me their wife; they made me a homosexual. They removed all my clothes and [left] with them.”

Kamene stands outside her house in a slum in Nairobi with her seven-year-old son born from rape. Kamene is also raising her young sister whose rape was so violent it left her with a brain injury — she faints often and cannot use a toilet, feed herself, or go to school. Picture: Samer Muscati/Human Rights WatchSource:Supplied

His daughters survived the initial rape but later died from their injuries, one after being infected with HIV, the other after being shot with a poisoned arrow.

Another rape survivor told of her brutal experience which left her so badly injured she is in constant pain and is now incontinent.

“I go to the dispensary for treatment but I am not seeing any improvement,” she said.

“They give me pain killers and tell me the urine will stop. I haven’t gone to a big hospital because I don’t have money. I have so much shame. I feel hopeless. I just sit and wait to die.”

Another survivor suffered traumatic fistula, an injury that often causes urine and faeces leakage and still has a leg injury and back pain following her brutal gang rape.

“I was raped by five men — they were beating me, pulling my legs apart,” she said.

“I got so hurt. I have a problem controlling urine. I am so ashamed.”

This woman went to hospital for treatment two days after being gang raped but says health workers ridiculed her and delayed treatment. Picture: Samer Muscati/Human Rights WatchSource:Supplied

In its report, HRW said survivors are left suffering with devastating physical and psychological health conditions, as well as poverty, and social exclusion.

The government recently promised reparations, which should be designed in consultation with survivors of sexual violence to ensure their full inclusion in all programs, but HRW said many survivors have not yet received help.

Senior Africa women’s rights researcher at Human Rights Watch Agnes Odhiambo said she was shocked to find how many survivors are sick, living in poverty and stigmatised, ignored, and often rejected instead of helped by the government.

This woman has twice been a victim of rape. In 1992 she watched as her mother was gang-raped by a group of men during tribal clashes in Rift Valley. In December 2007 she was raped during the post-election violence. Picture: Picture: Samer Muscati/Human Rights Watch.Source:Supplied

VIOLENCE ERUPTED AFTER ELECTION

Kenya erupted in violence after the disputed presidential election in 2007 which saw a spate of ethnic killings and reprisals by supporters of both ruling and opposition parties and excessive force by police in crackdowns on protesters.

The violence left 1133 people dead and displaced 600,000 others. Officials say at least 900 cases of sexual violence occurred, but HRW say this is most likely an underestimate.

According to its report, violence was widespread and not limited to women and girls, with boys and men also suffering.

HRW researchers found many of the people they interviewed had been brutally raped often by more than four attackers and in some cases up to 10.

Disturbingly it also found women said they were penetrated with guns, sticks, bottles, and other objects.

Of those women who reported rape, 37 had babies born out of the attacks and have faced discrimination and lack of birth certificates for the children as the fathers are often unknown.

This girl was 16 when she was raped in 2008 by a neighbour who said he would help her to escape from a gang of youths. Picture: Samer Muscati/Human Rights Watch.Source:Supplied

The brutality was also dished out to men and boys with some raped or forcibly circumcised or castrated.

Attackers included members of Kenya’s security forces as well as civilians and militia groups.

HRW said few prosecutions have taken place while findings from an investigation into police misconduct, including sexual abuse, during the post-election violence have never been made public.

It said the Kenyan government had provided limited compensation to people who were displaced or lost property, providing some money, housing, and land, but survivors of rape and other sexual violence have largely been excluded.

“The Kenyan government has shirked its responsibilities toward the post-election victims of sexual violence,” Ms Odhiambo said.

“It is crucial for the government to carefully plan and deliver reparations for these victims to alleviate their suffering.”