26 October 2008
Nairobi — A resolution passed by a group of single mothers who are survivors of sexual and other forms of violence was emphatic: "We don't want any child of the next generation to have to live through what we have gone through!"
The verdict was reached during a recent meeting in Ruiru, a suburb of Nairobi, where the victims broke their silence and publicly spoke out on violence against women.
The members of the Young Women Initiative (YWI) were part of the "We Can" campaign, whose primary goal is to end all forms of violence against women. The campaign aims at creating a fundamental shift in social attitudes and beliefs that support violence against women.
It also seeks to create a critical mass of people who renounce violence against women and are able to influence communities, organisations and institutions to embrace gender equality and end violence against women.
Violence against women is a technical term used to collectively refer to violent acts that are primarily or exclusively committed against women. Similar to a hate crime, this type of violence targets a specific group with the victim's gender as a primary motive.
According to the United Nations General Assembly "violence against women" is "any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in physical, sexual or mental harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life."
The 1993 Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women noted that this violence could be perpetrated by assailants of either gender, family members and even the state itself. Worldwide governments and organisations actively work to combat violence against women through a variety of programmes.
The Ruiru mothers narrated their stories of violence and the impact it has had on their lives.
They issued a call to the country's leadership to put to an end to the violence, especially sexual, that has ravaged them and thousands of other women and girls in the country for a long time. They declared that they were ready to make any sacrifices to put an end to the vice.
Some have been threatened with dire consequences, including death, for speaking out.
"I'm doing this at my own peril, some of my tormentors may actually want to kill me for it. But I am ready to make the sacrifice, to die if necessary," said Kate Nyaguthii, victim of brutal gang rape that almost killed her.
If speaking out, she added, will help put an end to violence against women in Kenya, then it was worth it. Nyaguthii is convinced that what she has affirmed will save women from similar fate.
Initially, not everyone in the crowd was brave enough to take to the podium, but the strong testimonies gave them the courage to break the silence.
One after another, they recounted their nasty experiences to whoever cared to listen, amid applause from their sisters. In the end, they swore to uphold the resolution passed during the meeting.
"The mere act of coming forward to renounce violence was a clear indication that they have refused to wait any longer and that they want to speak for themselves and reclaim their dignity and power," noted the group's chairlady, Marion Ochien'g, who was also the main organiser of the event.
According to her, the campaign's central strategy aims at mobilising the "change makers" -- people who actively encourage more positive attitudes and behaviour towards women within the communities they live and work in -- by using them as a central force to effect attitude change in society.
Her organisation intends to equip the change makers through training and active involvement in campaign events.
The change makers must recognise and address their attitudes and practice on violence against women and then influence change in others through personal contact and interaction, positive role modelling, raising awareness and recruiting other change makers.
However, the biggest challenge will be changing the social attitudes and beliefs that confine women to an inferior status.
"We have to get more women to understand their legal rights. We need to teach them why it is important to protect women and how it benefits the entire community when women are afforded better protection," argued Ochieng.
In coming weeks, the group, in collaboration with the Ruiru Municipal Council, has planned a number of activities to celebrate the "We Can" campaign.
The group will use street theatre, open-air meetings, traditional drumming, singing and dancing to engage people in discussion about violence against women and to generate support for local laws on domestic violence.
They also plan to engage male activists to emphasise that nonviolence benefits the whole family, not only women.
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