Be your neigbour’s keeper, Gender CS urges on violence

Gender Affairs Cabinet Secretary Prof Margaret Kobia- she has called on Kenyans to be their neighbours' keepers on domestic violence issues. PHOTO | SILA KIPLAGAT | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  •  Gender ministry helpline registers surge in domestic violence reports
  • With people contained at home there is an increase in domestic violence 
  • Ten per cent of the reported violence cases filed by men.
  • More women than men report because of stigma attached to the issue of a man being abused by a woman

The government is worried that gains in the fight against gender-based violence are being eroded during this Covid-19 pandemic lockdown, as the Gender ministry helpline registers a horrifying surge in reports.

Gender Affairs Cabinet Secretary Prof Margaret Kobia revealed during a Common Women Agenda (COWA) dialogue last week on Wednesday that the number of reported domestic violence cases had more than doubled, and called on Kenyans to be more proactive in ending domestic violence. 

“Whenever there is domestic violence, people choose to keep quiet because we think it is not our business. Your neighbour’s problem is your problem. Now more than ever is the time to be our neighbours’ keepers. If you hear your neighbour screaming, please do something, do not wait to collect a dead body. We must be able to act and speak up about this problem,” she said.

CRIMINAL OFFENCE

“If you have a neighbour suffering, talk to them, also let the perpetrator know that you know what's happening and let them know that it is wrong and a criminal offence report to the authorities,” urged the CS.

“Let it not be treated like domestic and sexual violence is a personal matter which should be ignored and left for the involved parties to sort out.”
She noted that the country-wide confinements had become obvious pressure points for domestic afflictions.
“With people contained at home we've seen an increase in domestic violence of all manner. The physical is definitely what ends up being reported, but there's also emotional abuse happening that doesn’t often get reported. This is affecting people’s mental health too,” she observed adding that most of the reported cases are from informal settlements.
“People have become more irritable. The levels of stress have obviously gone up for a majority of Kenyans. And of course with that, much as we are trying to fight Covid-19, we might now be creating another prevalent. But let the community also start thinking about those that are less fortunate. People have lost lives through domestic violence in homesteads that are food stressed,” she said.
“For women, we've also seen increased stress involved with increased workload for women who are expected to work from home but are also taking care of their children and men who are also at home, all day long,” she added.

COMMUNITY-BASED SOLUTION

On the flip side, she said, men, some of whom have lost their jobs, are faced with insurmountable challenges if they are unable to provide for their families.
She noted that with the increased gender violence and with police being away to enforce the curfews and the health sector also stretched, this compounds the problem for women who experience gender violence.
She called for a community-based solution to the problem.
In January and February, some 50 and 53 cases respectively were reported on the national gender helpline 1195, ran by the gender ministry. However, the confinements occasioned by Covid-19 have seen the reported cases on the line rise to 115 in March and 461 in April.
Prof Kobia told Daily Nation’s Gender Desk in an interview after the COWA event that “the reported cases are just a tip of the iceberg as majority of the domestic violence cases remain unreported.”
According to the CS, 10 per cent of the reported cases were filed by men.
“Women are still more vulnerable. But we have seen more men falling victim. This is an issue we need to respond to even as we respond to Covid-19,” she said, “This does not mean that it is not being meted on men. It is just that more women report than men because of the stigma attached to the whole issue of a man being abused by a woman.”
She said many other cases have been reported by Fida- Kenya and other NGOs focused on women issues.

Data available show that Fida-Kenya has recorded 289 cases in just two weeks (between April 15 and May 3) since setting up the helpline, with the highest number of cases being on GBV and child custody and maintenance.

The Centre for Rights Education and Awareness recorded 214 cases between April 1 and May 6. The Coalition on Violence against Women recorded 17 cases of attacks against women for the fours day following the line being set up on May 4. 

Most of the reports came from Nairobi, Kisumu, Kiambu, Homa Bay, Siaya, Nakuru, Mombasa and Murangá. 

EMOTIONAL ABUSE

The gender-based violence spans across emotional abuse and physical assault by intimate partners, defilement and rape.   
Prof Kobia said Kenya has a long way to go in eliminating the vice because of the societal stereotypes where people assume others ought to be left alone to deal with their marital matters.

“That is how some of the victims end up dead,” she said.
Worldwide domestic violence is reported to have increased by at least 30 per cent, according to the UN general secretary Antonio Guterres.
“We’re calling for community-based mechanisms, counselling services and churches to step up to address the vice.”
She also called upon parents to be extra vigilant and take care of their daughters.

“These are dangerous times. We could reopen schools and find that majority of our girls cannot even go back to school because they are pregnant. And even though now they can go back to school they still might fall behind,” said Prof Kobia.