DETERMINANTS OF THE OUTCOME OF SEXUAL OFFENSES’ FORENSIC INVESTIGATIONS IN BUTERE SUB- COUNTY, KAKAMEGA COUNTY KENYA.

Abstract

The criminal justice system has been faced with challenges to conclusively address the plight of victims and survivors of sexual assault offences. In Kenya, it is estimated that only 25% of total sexual offence cases presented before a court of law are successfully convicted. These challenges are faced from the apprehensions of the incidents to the collection and forensic analysis of the necessary evidence. The focus of this study was to investigate the determinants of the outcome of sexual offenses’ forensic investigations in Butere Sub- County, Kakamega County, Kenya. The study was based on three specific objectives that include; to determine the influence of adherence to sexual assault standard investigative guidelines on the outcome of sexual assault offenses’ forensic investigation in Butere sub-county, assessing the influence of availability of sexual offenses’ analysis infrastructure on the outcome of sexual assault offenses’ forensic investigation in Butere sub-county and to establish the influence of coordination between medical and legal sectors on the outcome of sexual assault offenses’ forensic investigation in Butere sub-county. The study was anchored on structural functionalism theory and the theory of change. The significance of the study is to give insight into the successful investigation of sexual offenses and guide policy formulation regarding investigation of sexual offenses. sexual assault offenses. The study adopted a descriptive survey design to provide an explanation of the variables and an explanatory research design to explain causal links between variables. Stratified random sampling was used to pick police respondents from police stations and police posts from Butere Sub County and snowball and purposive sampling was used to pick survivors of sexual assault offences within Butere sub county and health workers from level 4 hospitals in Butere Sub County respectively. Data was collected using closed and open-ended questionnaires administered to police officers, interview guides administered to health workers and survivors of sexual assault offenses. Data was subjected to thorough editing and summarizing before actual analysis. Data was analyzed both qualitatively and quantitatively. Qualitative data was analysed thematically with the help of NVivo software. Quantitative data was analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 24 and results presented using tables. Data was analyzed through descriptive and inferential statistics. A regression model of determinants of outcome of sexual assault offense’s forensic investigation was run against the dependent variable, successful investigation of sexual assault offenses. Based on the findings, the coefficient of correlation (r = 0.798) indicated that adherence to sexual assault forensic investigative guidelines, availability of sexual assault forensic investigating infrastructure and coordination between medical and legal sectors on forensic investigation of sexual assault offenses had significant positive relationship with successful investigation of sexual assault offences. The results showed that sexual assault forensic investigative guidelines are moderately adhered to in Butere Sub County (composite mean=2.87). The study found out that there is inadequate sexual assault investigating infrastructure in Butere Sub County (composite mean=2.70). The study also showed that there is poor coordination between the medical and legal sectors on matters of sexual assault forensic investigation in Butere Sub County (composite mean=2.48). The coefficient of determination (R2 = 0.637), indicated that the selected predictors determined about 63.7% of the successful investigation of sexual assault offenses and the model was significant (P = 0.001). The study recommends interagency corporations on forensic investigation of sexual offenses, improvement of sexual assault analysis infrastructure, continuous training on forensic investigations and increased public education