Sh254m against a Sh2.97bn promise: The funding gap failing GBV survivors

At the British High Commissioner's residence last year, during an event marking the 16 Days of Activism, a gang rape survivor explained why she never sought justice. It wasn't shame nor fear of her attackers. It was the gender desk at her local police station, an open space where anyone could hear her describe her ordeal.

She recounted how, despite strong encouragement from a human rights defender to report the crime, the thought of going to the police station ultimately discouraged her.

"At the nearest police station where I was supposed to report, what they call the gender desk does not have a secluded office where you can whisper your troubles or even wail your heart out," she said. "It is just an open space, and people can hear you describing how you were raped. No way. I couldn't do it. That was it.

The survivor was gang-raped in her home in a slum settlement in 2022.

For the police, unreported cases of sexual violence are often treated as rumours. Without an official report, investigations cannot begin, and suspects cannot be arrested to face the full force of the law.

This lack of investment in sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) response and support systems continues to undermine efforts to end the vice.

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On Monday, President William Ruto received the report of the Presidential Technical Working Group on Gender-Based Violence including Femicide at State House, Nairobi. The taskforce, chaired by Dr Nancy Baraza, established that chronic underfunding of SGBV prevention and response interventions is severely hampering efforts to tackle the problem. It noted that critical services remain donor-dependent, leaving them vulnerable to geopolitical shifts.

Stakeholders who appeared before the taskforce observed that gender desks suffer from chronic underfunding and insufficient staffing, severely limiting their ability to support GBV survivors effectively.

These desks, typically located within police stations, often lack essential resources such as trained personnel, private spaces for survivor consultations, and basic supplies like reporting forms or referral directories. As a result, officers handle cases with limited tools, leading to delays, mismanagement, and incomplete follow-ups. The lack of investment discourages survivors from seeking help, as they perceive the desks as ineffective or unresponsive, further entrenching distrust in formal systems.

In 2014, the Ministry of Devolution and Planning, under which the Directorate of Gender fell, launched the National Policy for the Prevention and Response to Gender-Based Violence. The policy outlines several strategies to prevent and address GBV, all requiring sustained funding.

To prevent GBV, the government committed to increasing access to quality and comprehensive response and support services across sectors. The policy outlines 12 strategies, including supporting the establishment of GBV response centres offering comprehensive services at every sub-county, with at least one referral centre at county level.

Other commitments include establishing and equipping forensic specimen analysis laboratories at county level; protecting vulnerable persons through a witness protection programme for GBV survivors; and ensuring adequate supplies, commodities, and equipment for facilities providing GBV response services.

On support mechanisms, the government pledged to promote the development of shelters, safe houses, and rehabilitation and reintegration facilities for survivors, as well as protection programmes for GBV service providers. It also committed to integrating GBV rehabilitation programmes in correctional facilities and fast-tracking the rehabilitation and reintegration of offenders into the community.

To improve coordination, the government undertook to enhance the collection, analysis, and use of data and research, and to strengthen community, medical, law enforcement, and legal linkages, particularly for forensic management.

To strengthen enforcement of laws and policies, the government also committed to reviewing, amending, and enacting laws in line with international and regional human rights standards, and monitoring the implementation of laws such as the Sexual Offences Act, the Prohibition of Female Genital Mutilation Act, and the Counter-Trafficking in Persons Act. It also pledged to fast-track implementation of GBV-related laws and enhance the capacity of criminal justice and law enforcement institutions to end impunity.

However, there is no harmonised public report on budgetary allocations towards these commitments.

The government's Beijing +25 report, released in March 2020, does not provide a detailed breakdown of funding for these interventions either. Nevertheless, it indicates that funding for the Legal Aid Programme was supplemented by development partners such as the European Union and UN Women. The programme received $510,000 for pilot projects, which increased to $1,353,665.60 in the 2017/2018 financial year to support its transition from a programme to a service.

The report also highlights the impact of the National Government Affirmative Action Fund, which supports women's groups, offers bursaries to students, and provides sanitary towels to girls in need.

By 2026, former President Uhuru Kenyatta had envisioned an end to all forms of GBV, committing the government to invest towards this goal. As a co-leader of the global GBV Action Coalition under the Generation Equality Forum, Kenya committed to 12 key actions aimed at eliminating all forms of GBV by 2026.

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In 2021, during the Generation Equality Forum in Paris, President Kenyatta pledged that the Treasury would allocate $23 million (Sh2.97 billion) for GBV prevention and response by 2022—equivalent to 62 per cent of the State Department for Gender's 2024/2025 budget—with a planned increase to $50 million (Sh6.48 billion) by 2026 through a co-financing model.

However, in the 2025/2026 budget, Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi allocated just Sh254 million for strengthening GBV prevention and response—only 8.55 per cent of the former president's initial benchmark.

Budget documents from the Parliamentary Budget Office show that of the Sh254 million approved for strengthening GBV prevention and response in the 2025/2026 financial year, Sh200 million was a grant.

In an earlier interview, Prof Judith Waudo, leader of the Kenyatta University Women's Economic Empowerment Hub, pointed to government failures in coordination and service provision, leaving shelters barely functional and GBV data in disarray.

She explained that during research on the cost of GBV, her team uncovered widespread misreporting across institutions. A single case, she said, is often recorded multiple times—at hospitals, chiefs' offices, women's rights organisations, and police stations.

This duplication creates the illusion of rising numbers while masking the true scale of violence. In one county studied, an initial figure of more than 2,000 cases dropped to just 600 after validation. One survivor's experience had been recorded six times.

Prof Waudo said the fragmented reporting system reflects a government without coherent mechanisms for documenting or responding to violence. Her team has recommended that the Ministry of Gender establish a unified, synchronised reporting framework.

Conditions in shelters, she added, are even more troubling.

"These facilities operate without uniform standards or oversight," she said. "Conditions in many shelters are poor, and the lack of regulation means they are run solely according to the capacity and judgment of their founders."

She noted that the State operates only two shelters nationwide. "In a country grappling with thousands of GBV cases each year, having just two government-run safe houses is a national failure," she said.

Even so, Prof Waudo warned that reforms will fall short if shelters continue to neglect women's economic empowerment.

She argued that shelters offer only temporary safety, while lasting protection comes from equipping survivors with the economic means to rebuild their lives. Without livelihoods, many return to the same homes and abusive partners they fled because they cannot afford to live independently.

This cycle of escape and return, she said, contributes to the continued rise in femicide and repeat violence. In households where women cannot afford basic necessities such as sanitary pads, their dignity and respect diminish, reinforcing their vulnerability.

"A woman who is not empowered is treated like a child," she said. "But empower her even a little, and she can take control of her life and her children's wellbeing."

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