A widow from Mt Elgon, Bungoma County, has described a violent attack in which she was gang raped by three men while collecting firewood, an incident that has forced her to abandon her source of livelihood and live with lasting trauma.
Joan Chebet says the attack happened in June last year when she and three other women had gone to the forest in the morning to collect firewood.She explains that the group was leaving the forest when they were ambushed.
According to her account, her companions managed to escape, but she was overpowered by three men who caught up with her, forced her to the ground, and raped her one after another before fleeing into the bush and leaving her unconscious.
“My three female colleagues managed to get away, but I was not fortunate. Three men caught up with me, forced me to the ground, and took turns raping me. After they finished, they fled into the bush and left me for dead,” Joan told The Nation.
She says she later regained awareness but remained deeply shaken.
Out of fear and confusion, she stayed indoors for several days and did not report the incident to authorities.
She adds that she did not know where to seek help and feared further exposure within her community.
Chebet’s experience mirrors accounts from other women in the same Mt Elgon region, where widows and vulnerable residents frequently rely on the forest for survival.In recent years, women in the area have reported repeated attacks while collecting firewood, particularly in remote sections of Mt Elgon Forest, which has long been associated with insecurity linked to past militia activity and land-related tensions.
Before the attack, Chebet earned about 400 shillings daily from selling firewood, an income that supported her household needs.
The earnings allowed her to provide basic necessities for her family.
Since the incident, she says she can no longer return to the forest.
Instead, she has turned to casual farm work and small-scale farming, where she grows maize, beans, potatoes, and cabbage to sustain herself.Many survivors, like Chebet, remain silent due to fear of stigma and lack of access to formal reporting or support systems.
Authorities have previously linked insecurity in parts of Mt Elgon to past conflicts and lingering criminal activity, though survivors say protection in the forest remains inadequate.