VIOLENCE PREVENTION IS A GOODWAY TO GO AND NO EXCUSE FOR ABUSE

 

 

STATICTICS FOR 2020/2021 FOR THE PREVALENCE OF GENDER BASED VIOLENCE

VIOLENCE PREVENTION IS A GOOD WAY TO GO AND NO EXCUSE FOR ABUSE

During the Covid 19  period the Kenya government’s  response to gender based violence has been too little, too late. Mutuku Ngilu, the executive director of counter human trafficking trust east Africa , agrees that the number of safe houses is limited, especially in far flug areas like north eastern Kenya. He add that local communities sometimes stigmatize women who seek help from safe houses, and when perpetrators  find where they have gone, they sometimes go there for revenge missions.

According to government, There has been an increase in all types, 45%   physical violence, 14% sexual violence, 22.9% forced child marriage.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kenya, like many other countries around the world, experience an increase in reported cases of  violence, including domestic violence  during restrictions on mobility to curb the spread of virus. Even before the pandemic, high levels of violence against women and girls impunity, lack of accountability and services for survivors were ongoing problems in Kenya.

However, Kenya currently has two governments run safe houses in Makueni and Bungoma counties. This is 45 short of the target, as part of the president Uhuru Kenyatta commitment in generation equity forum in Paris, in June 2021, was to have one in every country. The law states that people under threat needs to be protected.

 Rebirth of a queen was founded in 2019  by a person known as Pauline Juma, the organization is dedicated to empowering teenagers and young women. It opened its first safe house in December 2020 in Kajiando.

Another safe house that is run by an expert  known as Njeri Migwi, she has an organization called Usikimye that is offering victims of marital violence fresh  restart, it contains several houses that seek to provide post rescue medical care, psychosocial support to survivors. Its sole purpose is to raise awareness on how one could get help in case of an assult. With time the founders Njeri Migwi and Stella Khachina realised that there was a gap in the response systems meant to support victims. I would direct them to police stations and some would not get services  recalls Ms Migwi.

 Mary who is a survivor  decries the lack of support from the government and how it has failed to protect them as they only call you when they have a case. Safe houses are catered for or in the law through witness Protection Agency. Still, a request needs to be made by the Directorate of criminal investigation officer investigating the case, and there has been some progress made in this area, which will be expounded on later.

In the matter of integrating safe houses into law, the Nairobi county government has made substantial progress in this, and on November 1, 2021 Nairobi city county acting governor HE Kananu Mwenda, signed into law the sexual gender based violence bill at city hall Nairobi.It seeks to establish an interconnected reporting, and referrals systems that will guide survivors  on where to seek help. Its overall role is to accelate efforts towards the elimination of all forms of GVB in Nairobi county and ensure perpetrators are severely punished.

The law proposes that the county government, establishes safe houses in atleast one of the 17 sub counties in Nairobi to guarantee the safety of victims, while their cases are being prosecuted, ensuring budgetary allocation for the facilities and witness a protection programme They may find reprieve with the law in place.

The national crime research Centre its report titled : protecting the family in times of covid  19 pandemic, recommended that there is need to establish one stop centers for survivors. But some of these recommendations including; the safe houses still remain pending in terms of implementation. Survivors can only be held to a safe house through a court directives from a magistrate, as the survivors awaits formal courts proceedings.

Rebirth of a Queen is just one of the many organizations that are stepping in the gap left by the government. Others are Human trafficking trust east Africa, Undugu  society of kenya and Maisha , among others. The centres for Rights Education and Awareness (crew) partners with existing safe houses. Crew has a toll free line and they give legal and psychosocial support. They also do cash transfer to survivors , but even if  you give someone all this and they go back to the same home where there’s violence , it can be futile , and that’s where the safe houses come in. we refer them there to get support ,’says Wangeci Wachira the executive director of crew

 Eric Mukuya, the executive Director of Undugu society of Kenya, which runs a safe house for children in Kitengela, holds that of the biggest hindrances to the existence of safe houses in Kenya, is the fact that it is capital expenditure needing substantial financial commitment, which most of the sponsors and donors are not willing to get into. But to fund programmed, not infrastructure adding that ideally the problem of limited safe houses should be addressed by the government

The law comes in is through a restraining order on the perpetrator. However, what this is does not take care of  the fact that the perpetrator can hire goons to harm the survivors, and that is a huge gap. In July 2020, President Uhuru Kenyatta ordered an investigation into rising reports  due to covid restriction. He directed the national crime research centers to prepare an advisory to security agencies on remedial action within 30 days and immediately prosecute all violators.

Some of the reasons why the government   was slow to respond to violence are; a number of instances of abuses by the government securities officials have been reported, including cases of sexual violence committed by the police. These attacks have been documented by the commission of inquiry and by non government organizations. Six women who were victims of sexual violence at the hands of police, spoke with AL delegates and they all expressed   their frustrations at the luck of justice and action against the perpetrators .

Survivors also said that access to Kenya‘s already severely limited supply of shelter safety houses, was made more difficult by the violent enforcement of curfews and lockdowns. The few shelter  that exits had staff shortage and could accommodate even fewer people because pandemic rules did not consider staff in the shelter essentials.

Njeri wa migwi who is an expert  in  gender based violence, and a  survivor her experience inspired her to start the organization, she left an abusive marriage that left her partially deaf in the left ear.

Observing that most women are usually  rejected   by their families once they leave abusive husbands. Today she runs an organization called  Usikimye, runs safe houses spread across three towns  Thika,  Kiambu, Nairobi. Victims reach usikimye  through social media and a network of good Samaritans in hospitals, police stations at their Soweto Nairobi offices the organization also in fused skills training like sewing, baking, cooking and financial literacy classes for the women. She is a Kenyan anti –gender violence activist

The Kenyan government should urgently live up to its pledges to protect women and girls from violence , including with free medical and mental services alternative housing , and justice .The government needs to build a solid rights –based  framework to anticipate how future emergencies will affect women and girls in our country.