A Kenyan court on Wednesday sentenced three men to life for stripping and sexually assaulting a woman they believed was dressed too provocatively.
The verdict capped a case that prompted hundreds to march through the capital Nairobi in short, fitted clothing in 2014, calling for an end to violence against women after a video of the attack was made public.
“We are equal, but it is equally important to respect the dignity of a woman,” chief magistrate Francis Andayi said as he handed out the sentences. “This is what many uncultured men do out there,” he added.
The assault at a petrol station on Nairobi’s outskirts, in which the victim was stripped, sexually assaulted and had her phone and cash stolen by a violent mob, was captured on camera and widely circulated on social media.
It was part of a rash of assaults against women and led activists mobilised under the hash tag #MyDressMyChoice to demonstrate. The three men, Edward Gitau, Nicholas Mwangi and Meshak Mwangi, were technically given the death sentence. However Kenya’s ban on carrying out executions means the trio will spend the rest of their lives in jail.
