National dialogue reveals major steps made towards prevention, elimination of GBV

By Peter Ochieng

As Kenyans join the rest of the world in marking 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, which kicks off every 25th November, it is becoming clear that various stakeholders are joining hands towards prevention and elimination of Gender Based Violence (GBV) in the country. The campaign’s theme for this year is “Unite! Invest to prevent violence against women and girls.”

In Kenya, according to the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey (KDHS), 2022 report, over 40 percent of women have experienced physical or sexual violence from an intimate partner. Additionally, around 1 in 4 girls get married early, and about 1 in 5 undergo female genital mutilation (FGM).

They are not statistics to smile about, but, perhaps the numbers would have been much higher if no mitigation measures were being put in place by relevant authorities, and stakeholders.

During an X (formerly Twitter) Space on Tuesday, the National Policy Dialogue on Ending Gender-Based Violence organised by Amref Health Africa in Kenya under the Power to Youth Programme, Elizabeth Musikali, a Law lecturer at the Catholic University of Eastern Africa and an advocate of the High Court of Kenya listed the rise in use of digital media and technology among the major causes of GBV.

“Most young people use technology in a wrong way, because they believe they can say or post anything without being seen,” said the advocate. She cited lack of education and awareness on respectable behaviors, substance abuse, mental health issues not being addressed in a good way, normalization of bad behavior and cases taking long before survivors get justice as some of the other causes.

Musikali made reference to out-of-court settlements, where families of survivors and suspects come into agreement as one of the major issues, dragging the feet of prevention and elimination of GBV in Kenya.

However, Davis Ochieng Okeyo, Senior Program Officer at the National Gender Equality Commission (NGEC) said huge strides have been made towards prevention and elimination of GBV. Okeyo said policies and laws, such as the Convention on elimination of all forms of discrimination against women, sexual offences act, cybercrime act and protection against domestic violence act are being effectively applied where necessary, to act as a deterrent.

“Violence occurs in private spaces. The protection against domestic violence act is one of the most progressive laws on reporting GBV cases,” he stated. Okeyo added that toll free numbers such as 1195 and 116 for reporting of cases have proved to be effective in informing action against suspects.

In a bid to tackle online child sexual exploitation and abuse, Okeyo said the directorate of children services launched the 2022-26 National Plan of Action on Tackling Online Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (OSCEA). In addition, the children act 2021 also has robust provisions for prosecution of perpetrators of OSCEA.

Online child sexual exploitation includes a wide range of behaviours and situations. Most commonly this includes grooming, live streaming, consuming child sexual abuse material, and coercing and blackmailing children for sexual purposes. Luckily, if you or your children discover that sexual content of themselves has been shared online, the safety Commissioner can assist with having it pulled down.

The NGEC Senior Program Officer said its important to have open and honest conversations with children, and ensure they feel comfortable telling a trusted adult if they are contacted by someone they don’t know.

Additionally, Musakali said the gender desks at police stations have been key in assisting survivors, even though challenges still abound. “Most of these gender desks are either not manned or if they are manned, they are not manned by police officers who are capable of dealing with victims of abuse or sexual abuse. Strides have however been made by the government to ensure that gender desks give dignity to the survivors.”

Charles Olwamba, a Program Officer at Amref Health Africa on his part said going forward as a society, we need to look at our norms and discard those that glorify gender based violence. “Most of the gender based violence acts are always supported by the norms we have in the society. We really need to look again at our norms and culture. There are particular things that were meant for yesterday,” he said.

He noted that tackling GBV cannot be left to Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) alone, adding that it calls for a multi-sectoral approach to win the war against the acts.

As the space came to a close, it underlined the importance of protective legal frameworks and called for the effective implementation of laws to prevent violence against anyone. Truly, “there is no excuse for Gender Based Violence (GBV)."