Nairobi County passes new law to fight SGBV
Nominated MCA Wanjiru Kariuki during the interview with nation.africa. She has sponsored the Nairobi City County Sexual and Gender-Based Management and Control Bill 2019.
What you need to know:
- The Nairobi City County Sexual and Gender-Based Management and Control Bill 2019 was sponsored by Nominated MCA Wanjiru Kariuki.
- Ms Kariuki said the new law promotes public awareness on causes, impact, consequences and means of preventing SGBV in the county.
The fight against sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) in Nairobi County has received a boost after the County Assembly passed a new law to fight the vice.
The Nairobi City County Sexual and Gender-Based Management and Control Bill 2019 was sponsored by Nominated Member of the County Assembly (MCA) Wanjiru Kariuki.
Once the county governor assents to the Bill to become law, it will become operational.
Speaking to nation.africa, an elated Ms Kariuki said the new law promotes public awareness on causes, impact, consequences and means of preventing SGBV in the county.
She noted that the Bill also seeks to establish an interconnected reporting and referral system that will guide survivors on where to seek help.
Gender related
“The spike of SGBV cases in Nairobi prompted me to come up with the law. I realised many survivors of gender related violence were suffering and had no idea where to get help,” she said.
Ms Kariuki noted that the county has already set aside Sh18 million and the National Government Affirmative Fund (NGAAF) Sh50 million to support the anti-SGBV campaign, which will start with the rehabilitation of a safe house in Westlands.
She said that between January and July this year, about 4,000 SGBV cases were reported either to the police or in hospitals in the county, although many went unreported.
The new law, she added, will build on the ongoing efforts by President Uhuru Kenyatta to create a gender equal society post Covid-19.
“The President is a global co-leader of Generation Equality’s Action Coalition on GBV. During the Generation Equality Forum held in France last July, the president unveiled Kenya’s roadmap to advancing gender equality, ending all form gender-based violence and Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) by 2026.”
Among other key highlights of the new law include the requirement that City Hall promotes education on causes, consequences, means of prevention and response to SGBV in public youth polytechnics and other county-run vocational training institutions.
Safe houses
The Bill also proposes that the county government establishes safe houses in at least one of the 17 sub-counties in Nairobi to guarantee the safety of victims while their cases are being prosecuted, ensure budgetary allocation for the facilities as well as a witness protection programme.
It authorises the county government to establish SGBV desks, fully equipped with toll free helplines in every ward and directs City Hall to establish its own service delivery units for easier coordination with the national government and relevant stakeholders.
Ms Kariuki’s law proposes that a SGBV county management committee headed by the county executive in charge of Gender and Youth Affairs, be established within 12 months of its operationalization.
The MCA said she would push for the fast-tracking of the law from twelve to six months, once it is assented.
A report by Federation of Women Lawyers-Kenya (Fida-Kenya) in May last year listed Nairobi County as among the counties leading in GBV.
Other counties included were Kisumu and Mombasa, Kakamega, Kajiado, Kiambu, Kilifi, Uasin-Gishu, Taita-Taveta, Vihiga, Bungoma, Lamu Siaya, Kitui and Nakuru.
