Amwik, partners, launch campaign to help SGBV victims get justice

Sometime last year, a family went to a police station to report a defilement case. A man had violated their four-year-old daughter and they were determined to pursue justice for her.

They were, however, shocked that instead of getting help to nail the perpetrator, they were asked to first part with a bribe.

The family was more puzzled when some police officers tried to prevail upon them to drop the case. They later learnt the perpetrator had bribed some officers, hence their demand that they withdraw the case.

The family stood their ground and the police took up the case. But the file soon went missing, never to be found again, thus dashing their hope for justice.

Judiciary complicity

The case is just a tip of the iceberg. Hundreds, if not thousands, of victims of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) find themselves in similar predicaments in their quest for justice.

Many have registered their displeasure with delayed justice, accusing the police and the Judiciary of complicity.

As a result of such cases, the Association of Media Women in Kenya (Amwik), in partnership with Urgent Action Fund-Africa and other stakeholders, has initiated a campaign for the adoption of a comprehensive approach to the prevention and handling of SGBV crimes.

In their petition to the government, they argue that this will deter offence, punish perpetrators and serve justice to victims.

They particularly want the Director of Criminal Investigations (DCI), the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and the Judiciary to clean up the system and ensure victims get  justice without delay and the perpetrators are  held to account.

The wheels of justice, they noted, have been turning discouragingly slow, denying victims their right.

Speaking to the media at a Nairobi hotel on Tuesday, Amwik Executive Director Judie Kaberia, said there is need to interrogate the system  from the moment a victim reports a crime to the police to when the court determines the case.

Special courts

She noted that whereas progress has been made to tighten the laws against SGBV and establish structures including gender desks at police stations, Policare and an emergency reporting system, the surge in cases indicates that the changes are either insufficient or incommensurate to the weight of the vice.

“Delayed justice means no justice because it encourages perpetrators to continue committing the crime knowing accountability will take years and, after all, justice may never even come. It causes more harm to the victims. Delivery of justice to victims is important to punish perpetrators and act as a deterrence,” said Ms Kaberia.

To rein in the crime, Ms Kaberia said they are pushing the government to fast-track the 12 commitments President Uhuru Kenyatta made during the Generation Equality Forum last year, to eradicate GBV in the country by 2026.

They have also recommended that Chief Justice Martha Koome establishes special courts to clear the backlog of GBV cases .

They also want GBV response centres to be adequately equipped and manned by qualified personnel with knowledge and skills in handling victims.

They further want the police station gender desks to be professionalised and equipped to enable them roll out outreach activities and campaigns to win public trust in SGBV reporting.

Urgent Action Fund Africa programme manager Carol Werunga, called for more resource support to the GBV special courts.

Insensitive headlines

Faith Oneya, an editor at Nation Media Group and a member of Amwik, noted victims mostly fail to report because of stigma and victimisation. She said many of them fear the police, hence the need to professionalise gender desks. She challenged journalists to desist from using headlines that seem to normalise gender violence.

“Headlines need to be sensitive to the biases that people have on GBV. We almost, in some instances, justify cases of gender violence in some of the headlines we write,” she said.

Founder of the Woman's Newsroom Foundation Njeri Rugene, decried the bumpy road victims and survivors are subjected to in their search for justice.

“We must make it easy for victims of gender violence to get justice. It is sad that even some female police officers are usually compromised by the perpetrators, to subvert justice,” she said.

She appealed for rapid establishment of Policare centres in all the 47 counties and in each police station in Nairobi, which records many SGBV cases.

The Coalition on Violence against Women (Covaw) Executive Director Wairimu Munyinyi, called for a candid conversation by families, schools and the political class to device ways of mitigating the menace.

She said a comprehensive approach should also include excluded groups such as people living with disabilities and mental challenges, and called for training of police officers on gender issues, particularly how to handle victims and cases.

"We aim to continue maintaining sustained pressure on the duty bearers to offer solutions to delays of court cases, witness protection, intensified investigations and heightened support to survivors," said Ms Munyinyi.

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