By Betty Luke
The Isiolo county government has been implored to establish a rescue center for survivors of Gender Based Violence (GBV) to protect them from further harm by their perpetrators.
Speakers during the launch of 16 Days of Activism against Gender Based Violence at Kambi ya Juu police post grounds lamented numerous challenges survivors continued to face in absence of a safe center that offers them protection from the offenders.
Majority of the organizations carrying out advocacy on reducing Sexual and Gender Based violence are forced to incur extra costs to take survivors to the safe centers in neighboring counties after rescuing them.
A big number of women and children who have been subjected to violence mostly shy away from reporting the human rights violations for fear of repeat attacks by the suspects.
“Every time we rescue a victim we are forced to take them to Meru as we support them to pursue justice. Many organizations lack financial capability to transfer victims to Meru which leaves survivors with no option than to go back to the abusive home or environment,” Inform Action Executive Director Winnie Masai said at the event.
Women Rights crusader Grace Lolim said there was an urgent need for a safe center that would not only act as a safe space for women but also children whose parents are incapable of raising them up due to unforeseen challenges.
“The hard economic times have affected many families and some parents are now shifting the anger their children. Such children have nowhere to go and in most cases, remain silent out of fear,”she said.
County Gender Chief Officer Nura Diba noted county government had set aside Sh5 million for the establishment of a rescue center as Isiolo Teaching and Referral Hospital that he said would greatly contribute in the fight against GBV.
National Council of Churches Kenya (NCCK) Isiolo branch Chairperson Nathan Maingi said religious leaders were committed to offering space to create awareness on the dangers brought about by GBV and would not relent until significant progress was made.
Inform Action’s Asha Mukhtar cited lack of accurate data on the status of GBV in the county among the issues derailing efforts to end SGBV as every actor was relying on their own collected data.
“What exists is the percentage but there is no specific data on the number of people affected. Lack of centralized data makes it hard to achieve significant progress in the fight against Gender Based Violence,”she said.
Haki ni Yetu, a consortium of Inform Action, Civil Society Network and Kios Foundation, team lead Sarah Fetsus underscored need for collaborations to ensure absolute end to violence against women.
The campaign was launched by National Gender and Equality Commission’s commissioner Caroline Naikena who reiterated the government’s commitment to end violence that is affecting a significant number of women across the country.
According to Ms Naikena, violence against women remained a concern to the government as a lot of money was being lost in addressing the issue.
“We lose nearly Sh60 billion every year to support survivors of violence access treatment and many other forms of assistance. These resources could be directed to other important issues if we eliminate the vices,” she said.
This year’s 16-Days of Activism against GBV comes against a backdrop of increasing cases of femicide with recent reports indicating that majority of the perpetrators are individuals well known to their survivors.
This years theme ‘Unite to Invest’ insists on the need for concerted effort to eradicate violence against women.
