Fight against gender-based violence meted on boy child intensified

Nakuru,

Thursday April 20,

K.N.A. - By Esther Mwangi

The fight against sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) on boys has been rolled out in Nakuru.

The county has emerged as one of the SGBV hotspot in the country.

The joint initiative by Nairobi Women Hospital, Young African Women Initiative (YAWI) and Gender Violence Recovery Centre (GVRC) is also promoting positive masculinity among men to end violence against women and girl child.

According to the Project officer at Young African Women Initiative (YAWI) Karen Wairimu, positive masculinity was crucial to eliminating all forms of violence and discrimination against women and girls as it promotes healthy, peaceful and social well-being for all.

She explained that the campaign was designed to promote gender equality through the reconstruction of a non-violent identity of boys and men, the adoption of healthy masculine behaviours and men’s empowerment to be positive and supportive to their partners.

“To combat and address SGBV against boys in all their diversities, the society must acknowledge it is a crisis and its causes and consequences must be continuously addressed,” added Wairimu.

Speaking during the launch of the campaign in Nakuru, Wairimu said over 80 percent of boys and young adults subjected to SGBV neither reported nor sought treatment, adding that to effectively tackle SGBV, the initiative would be encouraging boys to talk freely about their feelings.

Wairimu regretted that society was not used to boys voicing out their issues, with such efforts often mocked, met with outright hostility and labelled as a show of weakness.

Consequently, she encouraged boys who are victims of gender based violence to report to authorities and seek counselling services for their own good.

A counselling psychologist at Nairobi Women Hospital David Kibyanjua observed that male SGBV survivors required a multi-sectoral and survivor-cantered response with access to medical, psychosocial and counselling services which responds to trauma, including mental and sexual.

Kanyanjua said that the society ought to nurture a community of boys and men who understand that it is okay for them to be vulnerable, to ask for help, to be weak and report violence against them.

“We need to build a culture of reporting SGBV and ensuring that victims get their rights and are accorded the necessary support,” stated the counsellor.

Communications Manager at Gender Violence Recovery Center (GVRC) Asin Consalata said they were urging teachers, religious leaders, education officials, parents and people in authority to build boy’s confidence by talking to them and giving them confidence that they were the future leaders of this great nation.

“It is our duty to counter the negative talk about boys. We must stop associating boys with violence, the use of illicit drugs and other criminal activities detrimental to their young minds.” Added the manager.

Consalata said many young men had been sexually assaulted and molested with the society paying little attention with the male victims choosing to remain silent just because nobody would believe them or they would be told that they “enjoyed” the act, while many resolved to commit suicide to end the shame.

“Practically, a scenario where a boy beats a girl in public, first it will attract attention and people will end up rescuing the woman. But when it is the other way around, many people will film the act, post it on various social media platforms and make fun of how weak the boy is. Others will even help the girl in beating the boy,” the communications officer added.

The “Kenya Demographic and Health Survey (KDHS) 2022” report says men in their 20s and 30s suffer sexual violence the most with those aged 20-24 being the most afflicted.

The report further says 6.9 per cent of men aged 15-54 have suffered sexual violence in their lifetime.

COURTESY: K.N.A.

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