Nairobi Kenya — The government is set to launch safe space campaigns geared towards addressing the gender disparity and increasing femicide cases including Gender-Based Violence (GBV).
President Ruto's advisor on women's rights Harriette Chiggai, says the government in collaboration with various stakeholders will help accelerate the campaigns so as to achieve the gender equality agenda.
"It is my hope that you shall join me in accelerating the timeline. Let's ensure that a girl born today will live in a world where gender equality isn't an aspiration, but a reality. That today we shall all sign up to support the gender agenda and align your CSR activities with the government agenda," said Chiggai.
Speaking during the launch of the Strategic Direction of the Office of Women Rights Advisor (ORWA) to the president in Nairobi, Chiggai underscored that the reported femicide cases in the last three months is about 97 with the oldest woman to be violated being 83 years old and the youngest being 5 months old.
Consequently, she emphasized the need to eliminate all forms of GBV..
Chaggai also noted that the Kenya police paused a gap in the fight against GBV stating,
"The Kenya Police, that is where we have a big gap because how do the Kenya Police receive GBV cases. How do they process the cases and how do we get these cases to court," she said.
Echoing her sentiments was The Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly Gladys Boss Shollei who underscored that the police force are the most horrible people to report concerning matters of domestic and Gender-Based Violence.
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"On GBV, I think our biggest leak is our Police Force. They are the most horrible people that you can go to to report domestic violence or Gender-Based Violence," said Shollei.
She further challenged women to strive to be involved in decision making positions despite the parities therein.
"They will not let us go to the Frontline. We must do something about it," she said.
The launch, which was attended by various stakeholders including the President's advisor on matters security Ambassador Monica Juma, who also highlighted President Ruto's gender agenda setting that even in the security sector, women can now be heard.
This comes just four days after President Ruto directed the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) to take decisive action against criminals behind femicides and murders cases being witnessed in the country.
Contribution by : Verdianamimmie Mapembe
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