[ad_1]
Human Rights Watch said that Kenya failed to provide support during the surge in violence against women and girls during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Human Rights Watch condemned the Kenyan government’s response to the surge in gender-based violence (GBV) that occurred throughout the coronavirus pandemic, especially during the lockdown.
In a new report released on Tuesday, the US-based human rights organization claimed that due to restrictions affecting its ability to move, the government failed to ensure the provision of health, economic and social support services for women.
Human Rights Watch said that in doing so, the Kenyan government actually promoted the increase in GBV. The report stated that in the first two weeks of the lockdown between March 2020 and April 2020, the number of calls reporting violence against women and girls increased by 301%, which is shocking.
Human Rights Watch said that although previous research has shown that GBV cases will increase during health emergencies, the Kenyan government should “anticipate and plan for a similar increase during COVID-19 health emergencies.”
It added that other research on sexual violence and gender-based violence also showed that Kenya’s current government structure and policies are “inadequate to effectively respond to violence against women and girls in such emergencies”.
The report is based on 26 interviews conducted between June 2020 and February 2021-13 of whom were GBV survivors.
The organization records various forms of violence against women and girls-including sexual abuse, assault, being kicked out of the house, forced marriage, and forced female genital mutilation (FGM).
According to the report, many abuses occurred in the “home”, and the attackers were “close family members including the husband, but other abuses occurred in the neighbours’ long-existing communities.”
The girls interviewed said that they were constantly being sexually harassed by men in the community, some of whom used food or sanitary napkins as gifts to “seduce” them.
Human Rights Watch said that in one case, Juliet, a 16-year-old girl who lived in an informal settlement in Nairobi, was imprisoned for four days by a man who sexually assaulted her. She was eventually rescued by neighbors and taken care of in a safe house in Nairobi.
Human Rights Watch said that although violence is already severe, there is a “clear trend” in Kenya’s violence against women and girls.
Kenyan police and other national security personnel have been the “main perpetrators” of serious human rights violations and have participated in many “rape and other sexual violence against women and girls, men and boys, especially in times of crisis,” Tuan said.
Although few people have been tried, Human Rights Watch’s findings indicate that police often solicit bribes to perform their basic duties.
Human Rights Watch’s findings also show that, despite the establishment of a gender office in the police station, police officers “stigmatize” survivors of gender-based violence and lack adequate training in handling such cases—to prevent victims from seeking justice.
In its report, Human Rights Watch called on the Kenyan government to “prevent, resolve and correct” violence against women and girls, including in times of crisis.
[ad_2]
Source link