Empowering Nakuru GBV survivors
What you need to know:
- Training launched two years ago by Young African Women Initiative (YAWI) to address gender-based violence.
- More than 100 women, mainly from the informal settlements in Nakuru, have been trained.
- Most domestic violence victims are women whose husbands are unemployed,frustrated because they cannot fend for their families.
- Centre admits 18 women under the program every three months.
In a small office at the Redeemed Church in Bondeni, Nakuru County, a group of women are busy making masks, kiondos, bags and other assorted households items.
As they learn the new skills to help them in future, the calm on their faces do not betray the experiences some of them have undergone.
Behind the smiles are some survivors of gender-based violence (GBV).
The training launched two years ago is a brainchild of Young African Women Initiative (YAWI) whose key objective is to address rising cases of gender-based violence.
More than 100 women, mainly from the informal settlements, have been trained so far. The women are empowered with technical skills to uplift their lifestyles.
Ms Esther Juma, the project trainer says the project started around the time the government had declared a ban on plastic bags.
“We started this project in 2018 to help women confined in their homes with no work to do. We made bags but we couldn’t sell them because they were not environmental-friendly,” she says.
VIOLENCE VICTIMS
Ms Juma says after their bags were rejected, she started training the women how to make aprons, kitenge bags, tissue holders and other products.
She notes that most of the domestic violence victims are women whose husbands are unemployed and frustrated because they cannot fend for their families. This has led to conflicts at home as husbands vent their frustrations on their wives.
“The project aims at helping women unable to fend for their families get skills to support themselves and their families. Many have been employed in textile firms while others are self-employed,” she says.
The training targets women aged between 18 and 35 years because they are the most vulnerable.
ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT
“Some of our beneficiaries have opened shops to do their business. They have been economically empowered and that is the objective of the project,” says Ms Juma.
YAWI’s monitoring and evaluation resource mobilisation head Anita Murugu says the objective is to help women get technical skills to fight poverty.
“The purpose of this program is to equip women in Nakuru’s informal settlement with technical skills in reusable biodegradable and eco-friendly materials,” she notes.
Ms Murugu says the centre admits 18 women under the program every three months, adding that the project is part of their Elewa Haki project, whose objective is to end GBV.
“The women are also taught about their basic human rights. One of the underlying causes of gender-based violence is poverty and lack of economic empowerment, and that is why this program trains women skills to empower themselves economically and be agents of change in the society,” she says.
