Monday, May 23, 2011

What if IMF chief had been accused of raping a cleaning woman in Kenya?

By RASNA WARAH
Posted  Sunday, May 22 2011 at 16:31

The most astonishing aspect of the Dominique Strauss-Kahn scandal that hogged the headlines last week is not that the head of the International Monetary Fund sexually assaulted an African chambermaid in a New York hotel, but that he was actually arrested and charged with the crime.
What heartens me about this case is that the New York City law enforcers did not consider the wealth, power, or influence of the accused when they made the arrest, which would definitely not be the case if the alleged crime had occurred in a poor developing country such as Kenya.
This is not to suggest that the US criminal justice system is superior to that of other countries (though the US justice system does tend to view everyone equal before the law, regardless of status, which is not so in many other countries, and it is probably less corruptible.)
Let us for one moment imagine that the IMF chief was accused of sexual assault by a cleaner in one of Nairobi’s posh five-star hotels.
The most likely outcomes of this scenario would be the following:
a) the hotel manager would not believe the cleaner, and even if he would, he would certainly not report the crime to the police for fear of damaging both the hotel’s and its famous client’s reputation.
b) Even if the crime was reported, the police would be easily persuaded to bungle or cover up the evidence.
c) In the event that the allegation would be leaked to the press, attempts would be made to depict the victim as a gold digger who saw an opportunity to make loads of money from a rich mzungu.
d) The government and the diplomatic community would quickly swing into action and claim that the IMF boss enjoyed diplomatic immunity, which prevented him from being charged in a court of law in Kenya (after all, the accused heads an institution that decides the financial fate of poor countries such as Kenya).
e) If all else fails, attempts would be made to buy off the victim or to threaten her with retaliatory action, such as dismissal.
A few years ago I was told a story (which I cannot validate) of a high-ranking employee of an international organisation based in Nairobi who was caught red-handed in his office having sex with the tea-maker.
The story was the butt of many jokes among staff in this particular organisation, but no one thought of the fate of the woman, who was promptly fired.
What’s more, the man was never reprimanded for his actions (which were clearly exploitative); on the contrary, he was promoted.
People who have worked for international organisations based in Kenya will tell you that this is not unusual, especially if the perpetrator is a white man.
They will also tell you that sexual abuse and exploitation of local Kenyan women by diplomats and bureaucrats working for international organisations is more common than we would like to believe, perhaps because it is easier to get away with it in a poor country like Kenya, where women can be easily “bought” or enticed with money or other inducements.
Men with power tend to get away with all sorts of crimes, simply because they are powerful.
They feel a perverse kind of satisfaction from having sex with women who are not in a position to say No (because they are too afraid), or who are too much in awe of them to recognise that they are being violated (remember Monica Lewinsky?)
Men who don’t need to (because they are too rich, too attractive, or happily married) also are known to pay for sex.
(As did actor Hugh Grant some years ago, and as do many rich and powerful men in Kenya who can be seen cruising Nairobi’s notorious “K Street” in the wee hours of the morning.)
But I don’t want to dwell too much on the psychology of power and what it does to men. Let us just accept that men — powerful or not — are weird and will do bizarre things.
Regardless of whether Strauss-Kahn is guilty or not, his case may have one positive impact — it may embolden women to report sexual abuse by rich, powerful, or influential men without fearing retaliation.
rasna.warah@gmail.com

No comments:

Post a Comment