NAIROBI, Kenya Mar 16 – Journalists for Human Rights (JHR) has welcomed the move to establish a Gender-Based Violence (GBV) clinic at the Mama Lucy Kibaki Hospital in Nairobi.
JHR, which runs a project Voice for Women and Girls’ Rights-Kenya, said the center established last week will go a long way in ensuring victims of gender-based violence get the treatment and the attention they require.
“It is important to give GBV cases in Kenya the seriousness they deserve. Having a clinic to handle GBV cases not only gives survivors treatment but also offers important attention such as psychosocial support,” said Judie Kaberia, Media Trainer at JHR.
Tumaini Clinic was launched at Mama Lucy Hospital on Friday as part of events to mark this year’s International Women’s Day by the International Association of Women Judges (IAWJ) Kenya Chapter.
The association’s President Justice Agnes Murgor and Nairobi Metropolitan Services Director Mohammed Badi graced the occasion.”Making it easier for survivors to access legal redress, treatment and psychosocial support is important and that is why the clinic will serve as an important center that will also follow-up on survivors, help them in their journey of healing both physically and emotionally, and also help them get closure,” Judie said.
Many times, she said, it is assumed that all a GBV survivor needs is treatment especially where victims were physically attacked, but even without a physical attack, survivors need to be supported emotionally because some of them carry this pain for many years or even forever.
A report released recently by the National Crime Research Centre shows that 71 percent of the 2,416 cases of GBV (that is, 1,716 cases) reported between January and June 2020 were female victims.
That means that at least 10 women are assaulted daily.
The report said these victims are mainly girls, women and children.
Alcohol, drug and substance abuse, poverty, family/ domestic disputes and retrogressive cultural (including religious) beliefs and practices and male dominance (including undermining masculinity) remain the main factors contributing to these forms of violence.
Other factors include poor parenting/upbringing and moral decadence, identity crisis among the youthful population and inadequate support system.
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