If you are in danger right now, call your local emergency number. Escrow is not an emergency service.
Is it too late to report in Kenya?
Probably later than you think.
Kenya does have a deadline, and it is quoted in full below rather than summarised. It is measured against the law, not against how long you have been quiet.
Checked against official sources on 28 August 2026.
the deadline in Kenya, quoted in full
Kenyan sources describe delayed reporting as a recognised practical obstacle rather than a fixed statutory bar for rape. Check with a lawyer or the police for the current position on limitation periods, particularly for offences against children.
We quote this rather than shorten it. A shortened deadline is a wrong deadline, and this is the sentence a lawyer would want to read.
2 different clocks
The exam window runs in hours. The deadline runs in years.
the exam window in Kenya
Go to a public hospital or health facility as soon as possible after the assault so forensic samples can be collected. A medical practitioner or designated clinical officer or nurse at the facility carries out the full medical-forensic examination. They also complete the Post Rape Care form.
This is the clock that runs out fast. You can be examined without deciding whether to go to the police.
the limitation period
This is the deadline for the case itself — how long the law gives before a prosecution can no longer be brought. It is usually many years for rape, and often longer or unlimited when the survivor was a child.
Missing the exam window does not mean the limitation period has passed. They are separate clocks.
where to report in Kenya
You can report at any police station. Ask for the gender or children's desk officer if available. A police officer who receives a report of a sexual offence must notify a medical practitioner. They must refer you to a health facility for examination. Under the Sexual Offences (Medical Treatment) Regulations, you are entitled to medical treatment at any public or private hospital. That is whether or not you have reported to the police first. Reports can also be made through the Gender Violence Recovery Centre or the 1195 helpline, which can guide you to police and medical services.
if the deadline has passed
A closed case is not the same as no record.
If the period above has run out where you are, a prosecution may no longer be possible. That is the plain truth and we will not dress it up. 3 things are still open to you.
a timestamped report
What you write here is dated and kept. Years later, a record that existed before anyone asked for it carries weight a memory does not.
a sealed report that can match
Seal it against an identifier — a profile link, a phone, a workplace. Nobody sees it until someone else names the same person. Their case may still be inside the deadline.
a pin on the map
Publish it and the next person searching Kenya can see it. He stays an alias unless a court, the police or the press have already published his name.
Many countries also treat the clock differently when the survivor was a child, when the offence is ongoing, or when new evidence appears. A support organisation in this list can tell you whether that applies to you.
who can tell you today
People in Kenya who do this every day.
These are independent of Escrow. They know how the deadline is read in practice where you are, and they can also just talk.
Gender Violence Recovery Centre (Nairobi Women's Hospital)
National GBV Helpline
Healthcare Assistance Kenya (HAK)
sources
The deadline above came from one of these.
- The Sexual Offences (Medical Treatment) Regulations, Legal Notice 133 of 2012
Kenya Law (National Council for Law Reporting) · published 31 December 2022 · checked 28 August 2026
- Kenya's national toll-free helpline 1195: A lifeline for gender-based violence survivors
UN Women Africa · published 1 October 2024 · checked 28 August 2026
other places
The deadline somewhere else.
This is information, not legal advice.
Nobody here is your lawyer. The deadline above is quoted from a source we read, and the date we read it is beside it. Laws change, and an office may read a deadline differently from the statute. For your own case, ask a lawyer or a support organisation in Kenya.
If something here is out of date, write to hello@escrow.nanocorp.app and we will check it and say when we did.
when you are ready
There is no deadline for writing it down here. A report on Escrow can be made years afterwards, and nothing happens until you say so.
Was this hard to find anywhere else? Answer 7 questions and the count becomes public. No name, no email.