A lobby has trained gender stakeholders on how to handle Gender Based Violence (GBV) victims in Kitengela, Kajiado County.
Forum for Women in Development, Democracy and Justice, Project Coordinator, Grace Wanjiru, said that there is a need for the community to speak up on GBV so that the vice can be stopped and the victims helped.
“GBV affects the entire society. If a child grows up in a violent home, he/she will continue the violence cycle and will violate other people as that is what they have grown up seeing. It is important for all institutions that deal with GBV to have capacity to deal with victims effectively or put adequate referral pathways,” said Wanjiru.
Wanjiru noted that referral pathways are a structured method of helping GBV victims by ensuring they access services such as medical and legal services, rescue centres and psychological support through the entire process.
The training brought together village administrators, chiefs, wazee wa nyumba kumi, ward administrators, police, religious leaders and refugee leaders.
Saningo Tatio, a doctor with the Kajiado County government added that there are gaps that GBV victims get either in the hospital or police station when they are seeking justice hence the justice is delayed or denied altogether.
“In addition to sensitizing the stakeholders on referral pathways, we have also provided them with the county’s GBV directory, which was put in place by the department of Health and the department of Gender to ensure that they have contact persons for all the victims of violence be it a child, women or refugees,” said Tatio.
Everlyn Makena, a police officer working in the Gender and Children’s desk at the Kitengela Police station was thankful for the training saying that she has learnt how to empathize, support and how to refer GBV victims to the relevant help centers that they require according to their needs
She urged the relevant authorities to equip the station with adequate facilities to help the victims.
“Sometimes we get a baby that has been abandoned and we don’t have the holding space for them, forcing us to take them to our homes until we get a rescue center that can provide shelter for them,” said Makena.
She encouraged the community to report all cases of GBV to the police as they are willing to help them get justice.
GBV victims are encouraged to utilize the GBV toll- free helplines 1195 and 1198 to access free tele-counselling services.
According to the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey 2022, 36 per cent of women aged 15-49 years in Kajiado County have ever experienced physical violence since age 15, which is higher than the national average of 34 per cent.
The survey also indicates that in the last 12 months, 25 per cent of married women or those who had intimate partners have experienced physical, sexual, psychological or emotional violence committed by their husbands or husbands in the county, compared to 28 per cent nationally.
Additionally, 9 per cent of women in Kajiado aged 15-49 have experienced sexual violence in the last 12 months which is higher compared to the national average of 7 per cent.
The survey further shows that 37 per cent of women of a similar age who have ever been married or had an intimate partner have experienced physical, sexual, psychological or emotional violence committed by their most recent husbands or partners.
By Diana Meneto