Speaking during the Global Women Summit on Tuesday, Gender Cabinet secretary Sicily Kariuki said the 5P’s stand for Prevention, Protection, Prosecution, Programming and Partnerships/FILE
NAIROBI, Kenya Aug 9 – The government has come up with a five point framework that aims to facilitate the achievement of gender equality and economic empowerment by addressing barriers facing women.
Speaking during the Global Women Summit on Tuesday, Gender Cabinet secretary Sicily Kariuki said the 5P’s stand for Prevention, Protection, Prosecution, Programming and Partnerships.
She highlighted awareness creation in communities on Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV), hotlines for survivors to report, and the establishment of SGBV Centres for survivors and survivors’ protection through prosecution of perpetrators, as the key initiatives within the framework
“Our Constitution and government both outline a strong position of zero tolerance to gender violence,” she said.
This comes barely a week after the country witnessed the case of Jackline Mwende whose hands were chopped off in a domestic row.
“Every person is equal before the law and has the right to equal protection and equal benefit of the law” Kariuki said.
She explained that the government has specifically enacted various laws to address violence against women which include the Sexual Offences Act (2007), the Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) Act (2011) and the National Policy towards Prevention and Response to SGBV.
“There has been a reduction of 6 percent in the prevalence rate in Kenya; For example the FGM prevalence reduced to 21pc from 27pc, the largest drop in the world in this period,” she said.
Speaking about the empowerment of women, Kariuki said the government understands women’s economic empowerment is a prerequisite for sustainable and inclusive growth and therefore it is important to create an enabling environment.
“Women’s economic empowerment benefits the country in that, economically empowered women are able to uplift their families because they have access to better education for their children, improved health and nutrition, and general poverty eradication” she said.
She encouraged women empowerment saying it translate to job creation, reduced poverty and improved balance of trade.
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