Let’s protect those who fall victim of ‘protectors’ during Covid-19 crisis

A woman walks home on a Nairobi street to beat the curfew announced by government  that kicked off on March 27, 2020.  PHOTO | EVANS HABIL | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • In the pipeline is the fight against sexual and domestic violence and protection of, especially, women and girls amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

  • Chief Justice David Maraga spoken out on this situation on April 1, noting that sexual offences had spiked, to 35 per cent of all criminal matters reported in the past two weeks.

As we strive to deal with this vicious and nightmarish coronavirus pandemic from hell — Covid-19 — that has bestrode the world like a colossus, leaving behind a trail of misery, pain, suffering and fear, we may need to pick up some lessons from the otherwise difficult and depressing experience.

Take hygiene, for instance. With the emergence of Covid-19, we have had to keep washing our hands with soap and running water or cleansing them with sanitisers every so often to protect ourselves from the disease. Consequently, handwashing has almost become reflex action.

Indications are that this habit could develop into a way of life, post-Covid-19 (God knows when that will be!) And this key hygiene practice had better be.

Just think of an instance when you were caught up in some unhygienic situation that made you cringe. It can be an incident where a friend, or just anyone, invited themselves to your table as you enjoyed some nyama choma and, before you knew it, an unwashed hand had been dipped into the platter.

The fellow must then have either taken a seat to join you or walked away chewing happily while you and your company ate on as if nothing had happened. But I am sure that, thanks to the virus, it can hardly happen now.

The same fate has befallen our beloved culture of shaking hands in greeting. It has now become normal to delve into niceties and conversations as soon as we meet friends, relatives, colleagues and other associates — never mind how far back we last met — without the shaking of hands. And how many times have you had to reluctantly shake a hand that you suspect is not quite clean?

My point here is on the importance of thinking through the positive benefits of retaining some of the habits and practices that we have been forced to adapt. Besides, our disrupted lives in recent weeks have demonstrated that we can live without some of these.

The irritating and unpleasant habit of touching people, especially in the streets and at bus stops in the guise of inviting them to board a vehicle, is one. This habit, I hope, will die with the coronavirus.

Observing physical distance, or social distancing, is also an important lesson that we must carry forward. Institutions such as banks, which have ATM lobbies, supermarkets, office buildings and other places that require people to queue need to make specific physical distance mandatory. We need to deal with situations where people breathe right into the backs and shoulders of others in queues.

In addition, quite a number of Kenyans — social and financial status notwithstanding — have come out to assist the less fortunate in society in whichever way. And most of them are not looking for public or official recognition.

I am aware of a group comprising virtually all cadres of women — from the villages of nearly every county to informal urban settlements, academia to the political sector — who have come together under a WhatsApp group. Kenyan Women’s Agenda members are amazing and we must laud and encourage them. At every call for help, they quickly put their heads together, volunteers pop up and, within hours, the ideas are converted into action.

The women have so far mobilised donations and distributed them to disadvantaged communities, especially in the informal dwellings. these include food, water, soap, sanitisers, sanitary towels for girls and young women and even flowers to health institutions and their overwhelmed workers. In the pipeline is the fight against sexual and domestic violence and protection of, especially, women and girls amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

Chief Justice David Maraga spoken out on this situation on April 1, noting that sexual offences had spiked, to 35 per cent of all criminal matters reported in the past two weeks.

This then goes to emphasise the need to urgently address the plight of those who become victims of their ‘protectors’ during these challenging times.

Note: Report sexual, domestic and gender-based violence to the toll-free helpline 1195, a 24-hour Ministry of Gender hotline.

Ms Rugene is a consulting editor. [email protected] @nrugene