Campaign Against Gender Based Violence Yield Fruit in Magarini as Cases Reduce Drastically

By Robby Ngoba

Email, the coastnewspaper@gmail.com

Officials from the Kenya Red Cross Society and community anti-gender based violence (GBV) have expressed satisfaction on Magarini Subcounty of Kilifi County’s response to the menace.

“Community members are now enlightened and reporting cases of GBV wherever they occur in the area.”

Speaking during the handover of the campaign program to the County government at Mapimo polytechnic grounds in Gongoni, KRCS public health officer (PHO) Wilson Owino said that the program that was sponsored by the Finland’s Development Cooperation.

It started in 2022 and that it had come to a close and handed over to the government.

The PHO said that cases of forced early marriages, teenage pregnancies among others had drastically dropped but there were some areas where the practice was still being done secretly.

“We can see cases of early forced marriages that have reduced but then we still understand and know that there are still other pockets especially in areas around Marereni that will still need the county government teams to be able to reach out,” he said.

The officer revealed that poverty was the main cause of GBV cases in most communities and that the program started by sensitizing more than 900 community pioneers and Community Health Promoters (CHPs) on identifying, reporting and handling the cases before embarking on an economic empowerment program.

“Issues about poverty again which are some of the underlying key drivers of GBV have also been addressed through economic empowerment initiatives and women are now independent hence are capable of speaking for themselves.”

At the Gongoni Dispensary where most victims of GBV get their first treatment, Dr George Kalama said that they recorded five GBV cases every day on children.

“In a day when I am at work, I get between two and five cases everyday but I am glad these cases are going down compared to several years back though we are aware other cases go unreported,” he said.

Gender Kilifi county executive committee member (CECM) Ruth Dama Masha said that the anti-GBV campaign would be escalated to all the seven subcounties as her office was keen on eradicating GBV.

“The departments of Education, Health and Gender must work together with the ministry of interior so that we pull up efforts. In Kilifi County we have three youth friendly centers that are helping us in address ing GBV cases,” she said.

Kilifi County National Gender and Equality Commission (NGEC) officer Beatrice Zighe advised community members to enhance the awareness and liaise with her office for more help in tackling the vices.

For Paula Katana, a CHP from Sabaki ward, wife battering was a sign of love in her community before the ant GBV campaign came and most women and also men were comfortable being beaten by their spouses as a sign of love.

“I never knew that GBV happens in marriages and when my husband beat me up, I always took it as a sign of love, but through the sensitization and education from KRCS, my eyes opened and discussed the matter with my husband who scaled down the beatings because if he continued, I could have reported him to authorities.” she said.

The economic empowerment they got from KRCS was a game changer since many women are now capable of taking care of themselves instead of enduring GBV practices for economic survival.

“My group and others benefitted from a farming project where we started with keeping chicken and we have grown, we are now keeping goats and cows and this has given us the power to engage in financial activities such as merry go grounds and savings,” she said.

Gwicha David, a male champion from Gongoni said that the local culture had been an impediment in the fight against GBV and the program had to incorporate men who normally dictate community rules and norms.

“In our culture, the elders decide everything and to ensure that GBV cases do not get solved locally, we engage the elders and as we speak, the elders under ‘DHOME’ are the champions of anti- GBV in our area,” he said.

Magarini Subcounty deputy county commissioner Michael Ololtuaa said that the security teams were alert especially in remote areas where the cases were still rampant and vowed to protect the rights of children and women in the area.

“We will continue to focus on the issues of GBV, crime against our women and girls and as the national security department we are very alert and we cannot let the society rot therefore requires such efforts where everyone is brought on board.”