Alarm Over Spiking Gender Based Violence in Kisumu.
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By Juliet Akoth
The life of Mary Atieno, a 17 year-old and mother of one changed drastically following a heart-breaking encounter at the hands of a relative in 2022. It all began with a visit to her aunt’s place who resides in Kenya’s Capital city, Nairobi.
“I was so excited before leaving my village in Nyakach, because I was finally going to see the big city with all its pomp and glamour and just take a break from life here in the village where I stay with my grandmother,” Atieno nostalgically said.
Without an iota of doubt in her mind, Mary packed her bags and hit the road towards Nairobi with her village friends hailing her and encouraging her to bring them gifts when she returns.
On her arrival to Huduma estate, where her aunt stays, she was received with a cold shoulder especially from her aunt’s husband contrary to her expectations.
Reality slapped her in the face when she had to come to terms with the fact that she was to be the new house help, this was not the agreement when she left home.
All her hopes of exploring the city were suddenly thrown out of the window.
Overtime, she adjusted to her new life but she noticed that her “uncle” was expressing inappropriate sexual advances towards her.
“ Whenever my aunt was at work in her small restaurant in town, he would come to the kitchen where I slept to tell me that he was going to take me as his second wife. He would also grope me sometimes and give very crude comments about my body,“ she revealed.
This continued until one fateful day when the man took advantage of her leading to her escape back to Nyakach. She did not share the experience with anyone until when she found out she was pregnant.
According to the Deputy Gender Officer at the Gender Based Violence Recovery Centre, (GBVRC) at the Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital (JOOTRH), Sister Alice Ouma GBV cases fall into three categories; sexual, physical and emotional violence.
Sexual violence is further divided into defilement and rape while physical cases include assault and self-harm. She further disclosed that 80 percent of the reported cases are women and 20 percent are men.
“Defilement refers to when a perpetrator takes advantage of a minor who cannot give consent while rape is when a perpetrator takes advantage of someone who is above 18 years,” she clarified.
From January to June this year, the GBVRC recorded in Kisumu county 657 sexually related cases with a monthly average of 109 while the physical related ones added up to 804 cases with a monthly average of 134 cases.
The county government through zoning has been able to identify major hotspot areas where GBV cases are prevalent and they include Seme, Muhoroni and Nyakach sub-counties.
One particular case is that of Bernard Ngonga, a 71 year old man from Muhoroni Sub County who was sentenced to life imprisonment before a Kisumu court for defiling his 15 year old daughter in 2020.
Late last year, Maurice Owago Owino from the same area was sentenced to life imprisonment for beating his daughter to death in the name of corporal punishment.
The surge in the number of GBV cases in the county can be attributed to various causes like poverty, use of hard drugs, parental negligence, cultural practices just to mention but a few.
According to the National Officer for Gender in Kisumu County, Ann Baraza, increased poverty attributed to the adverse effects of hard economic times is at the root cause of the recent rise of GBV cases.
“Our economy was dealt a major blow during the COVID- 19 pandemic and as a country we are still struggling to recover. Many Kenyans can barely afford their basic needs which has led to increased poverty levels, she explained.” Adding that with poverty comes joblessness and frustrations and idleness eventually leading to malpractices like rape.
Moreover, these malpractices like rape have contributed to the upsurge of Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) and new HIV infections in the county.
Currently, HIV prevalence in Kisumu is at 16 percent of 1.1 million people (data from 2019 National Census) against the national one at 4.2 percent making rape victims at a high risk of contracting the virus.
As a way to reduce GBV cases, the county government of Kisumu in collaboration with the national government has rolled out sensitization programmes where officials from the GBV sector engage members of the public on the dangers for example through chief Barraza’s in the community, health talks in school and lectures.
In March 2021, Mama County, Mrs. Dorothy Nyongo presided over the launch of a campaign dubbed Generation Equality which was all about sensitization and mentorship of young women by their veteran sisters on the dangers of GBV and the importance of reporting it at the right time.
Laws and policies have also been enacted to protect the victims of GBV. The Penal Code under the Sexual Offences Act states that an accused person found guilty of defilement or rape is liable to imprisonment not less than 10 years. Though the charges vary depending on the age of the victim.
Other Acts have also been enacted which include Protection against GBV Act, Matrimonial and Property Act to protect spouses of the deceased among others.
The establishment of GBV Department sectors in police stations spread across various sub-counties have helped to ensure that the perpetrators of GBV are brought to book.
“In the last month we received 11 cases tied to GBV, one of them was of a woman whose hand was chopped off by the husband. There was enough circumstantial evidence and we, therefore, took the case to court,” said Sargent Kwamboka, the officer in charge of the Gender Department in Kisumu Central Police station.
This coupled up with a partnership with Non-Governmental Organisation (NGOs) like Women Concern, KMET, Pambazuko la Magharibi , Kenya Legal and Ethical Issues Network (KLEN) which concentrates on capacity building and offering legal services since majority of people who suffer from GBV are from poor backgrounds, KLEN provides lawyers for them and Champions of Peace have provided funds in the efforts to eradicate GBV.
Rescue centres for the survivors have also been established to help these survivors as they recuperate into the society. The rescue centres offer counselling services to the survivors so as to deal with their psychological traumas that may lead to Depression and Bipolar in their adult life.
The rescue centres in Kisumu include KOFAS, Women Concern rescue centre and KMET rescue centre.
Ann Baraza appealed to the public to report these cases on time for effective help and to abolish cultural practices like widow inheritance and lack of reporting of GBV cases perpetrated by close family members all in the name of culture.
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