Lobbies reject bid to weaken violence Bill
What you need to know:
- The lobbies said the MPs have taken the Bill as a witchhunt against men, instead of looking at the bigger picture of protecting families from various types of abuses.
- However, women leaders maintain that ex-spouses are key targets of violence and should be protected.
Activists have faulted Parliament over attempts to change a domestic violence Bill.
Gender and human rights activists said the Protection Against Domestic Violence Bill, 2013, as it was, lacked teeth to firmly protect victims of family-based violence.
However, the chairman of the Justice and Legal Affairs Committee, Mr Samuel Chepkonga, said the provisions of the Bill bordered on “excess activism” and “clash with other laws”.
The Ainabkoi MP said NGOs could not expect MPs to adopt all their proposals without critical analysis.
The Bill is at the second reading in the National Assembly. The lobbies have accused the committee of mutilating the proposed law to an extent that it will serve no purpose in stemming violence in homes.
The lobbies said the MPs have taken the Bill as a witchhunt against men, instead of looking at the bigger picture of protecting families from various types of abuses.
Former chairperson of the Federation of Kenya Women Lawyers (Fida) Joyce Majiwa said: “The amendments proposed by the MPs water down the intended purpose of the Bill.”
MPs want estranged and former wives removed from the list of those considered to be in a domestic relationship.
VICTIM'S SHELTERS
However, women leaders maintain that ex-spouses are key targets of violence and should be protected.
Ms Grace Mbugua, the executive director of Women Empowerment Link, said spouses and parents constituted violators, and as such, could not be the only ones permitted to be complainants or respondents.
The original Bill proposed that the national and county governments set up shelters for violence victims.
Activists criticised police over the manner in which they handle cases of domestic violence.
