Surviving incest, abortions: Kakamega's struggle to protect girls
Members of Bumulusi CBO during a meeting at the group's office in Nambacha market, Kakamega County. The community-based organisation is partnering with religious leaders, security officers and the Navakholo community to bolster capacity building towards safe abortion,
What you need to know:
- Many lives have been lost as girls and women seek unsafe abortions.
- Harrowing tales have awakened this community's collective conscience, igniting an earnest effort to get solutions.
In the tranquil heart of Navakholo, Kakamega, a grim narrative unfolds – one shadowed by the spectres of incest, teenage pregnancies, and the haunting tales of unsafe abortions.
Young girls find themselves entangled in pregnancies thrust upon them by older men, some of whom are guardians and relatives.
However, it's the toll of lives lost to perilous attempts at terminating pregnancies that has awakened this community's collective conscience, igniting an earnest effort to unearth sustainable solutions.
Mr Samson Juma, a retired chief from Nambacha, sheds light on the community's harrowing experiences. He vividly describes how unsafe abortions had devastated the lives of women and teenagers in this region until the emergence of the Bumulusi Community-Based Organisation (CBO), which intensified its advocacy to bring a change.
The primary culprits behind these tragedies are glaringly evident: the pervasive grip of poverty and the overwhelming burden of stigma. Among the victims are students, with some ensnared in the horrors of incest.
Furthermore, a distressing local culture silently condones the killing of infants born of incest, driving women to seek the dubious assistance of traditional midwives and unlicensed practitioners who administer concoctions that lead to life-threatening hemorrhages.
Alongside these formidable challenges, ignorance and the lack of access to reproductive health information further compound the dire circumstances.
But in the face of this despair are stories of hope. Dora Nyandusi*, a resident of the Kharanda area of Navakholo, found herself navigating the treacherous waters of an unplanned pregnancy while still breastfeeding her child.
She recounts: “I knew if I did not terminate the pregnancy, one of the children would die of malnutrition. I went to a quack doctor. He used crude means that made me bleed profusely for two weeks. A friend referred me to a member of Bumulusi CBO, who took me to Navakholo health centre, where I got help.”
Dora had never explored family planning methods before, and she wouldn't have known about them if it weren't for her encounter with the Bumulusi CBO member.
Dora's story is not unique. Her 17-year-old daughter, a student, also grappled with an unwanted pregnancy and attempted to terminate it using unlawful methods. She, too, found help through a member of Bumulusi CBO before being referred to a local health centre. The girl was a victim of incest.
Dora believes the daughter “would have dropped out of school or even encountered a nasty abortion that could affect her life in totality”.
Contraception
The Bumulusi CBO, with the support of Ipas Africa Alliance, has launched vigorous campaigns on contraceptives and against unsafe abortion. Their partnership with religious leaders, security officers, and the broader community aims to bolster capacity in critical areas such as health, nutrition, psychosocial support, tuberculosis, and HIV/Aids.
Ms Pamela Wambongo, the chairperson of Bumulusi CBO, sheds light on their participatory campaign that engages stakeholders, from youth and sexual and reproductive health advocates to the regional administration, police, artists, church members, and the wider community. Their overarching goal is to ensure healthcare is provided safely without the looming fear of prosecution.
“We provide education to communities on sexual and reproductive health, access to family planning services, gender-based violence (GBV), HIV/Aids prevention, and proper nutrition. Initially, it was a challenge to gain the community's trust.
"Women used to lose their lives attempting unsafe abortions, but our efforts have significantly decreased this tragedy by delivering accurate and timely information, preventing desperate women and girls from resorting to unqualified practitioners for terminating unwanted pregnancies,” Ms Wambongo explains.
She says Bumulusi CBO does not advocate abortion. Instead, they are committed to ensuring that women in dire need of emergency reproductive health support can access it through approved facilities and personnel.
She shares the organisation’s days back in 2007 when they initially assisted HIV-positive orphans by providing them with treatment, sanitary items, and support. However, as the scourge of incest, unwanted pregnancies, and sexually transmitted infections and GBV continued to plague the community, their mission expanded.
Ms Wambongo recalls complex cases, like that of a 13-year-old pregnant girl, who was once taken to her office. The minor and her mother remained silent about the identity of the unborn child's father, trapped in a world of stigma and desperation. Bumulusi stepped in, provided support and referred them to Bushiri Health Centre.
Dealing with unwanted pregnancies requires a multifaceted approach that involves sex education and promotion of contraceptive use. While abstinence is an ideal concept, the stark reality is that sexual activity persists.
“Preaching abstinence is not the solution. Sex happens, we must talk about it. A child giving birth to another is a tragedy. Bumulusi is helping create awareness of this criminal act of fathers, uncles, and other male relatives preying on young girls,” says Navakholo Division Assistant County Commissioner Brenda Adhiambo Odhiambo.
The administrator commends the CBO for its work in promoting contraceptive use and HIV prevention among young girls. She recognises that without this support, young women may face the fallout from unsafe abortions, including life-threatening complications.
Statistics reveal a stark reality. According to the Kenya Demographic Health Survey 2022, Kakamega reports about 12,900 teenage pregnancies annually, with one in five teenagers aged between 15 and 19 giving birth. The youngest mother in the county in 2022 was only 13 years old, a stark reminder of the grim challenges the community faces.
In 2021, some 558 girls aged between 10 and 13 became pregnant. The Kenya Health Information System report from 2022/23 indicates that 57.7 per cent of women in Kakamega have access to family planning services.
Additionally, 219 girls aged between 10 and 14 received these services, along with 23,829 aged between 15 and 19, and at least 63,155 aged 20 to 24 who also received contraceptives.
Joint campaigns
Religious leaders have also joined efforts to minimise deaths from unsafe abortions. Patrick Maende, a catechist at St Kizito Catholic Lusumu, recounts his decision to encourage his wife to choose family planning. “I remarried after the mother of my children died. I did not want more children, but my wife gave birth to twins,” he says.
His commitment to this cause deepened after he tragically buried a Form Four student next to her child's grave. The young girl lost her life to excessive bleeding after attempting an unsafe abortion.
Mr Maende emphasises the importance of prevention, stating: "I'm a catechist. We teach people natural family planning. We tell people not to use condoms, but they still do. You can teach girls and boys to abstain, but they will still have sex. Bumulusi has helped reduce the cases of unsafe abortion.”
Caroline Akhonya, the CBO's secretary general, underscores the significance of referring these victims to public health facilities to prevent them from resorting to unsafe abortions. She says at least 10 women and girls seek help on unwanted pregnancies from them every month. “Today, we have 123 champions who were victims of incest, defilement, or gender-based violence,” she shares.
Mr Mori Ogambi, the community engagement manager at Ipas Africa Alliance, says they work with CBOs like Bumulusi to strengthen their capacity to engage with community stakeholders and shift community norms.
“Families have been restored through these efforts, and local administration, schoolteachers, and religious leaders have played a pivotal role in initiating conversations around unsafe abortion. Community dialogues have further normalised discussions around this sensitive topic, increasing knowledge about sexual and reproductive health and services,” Mr Ogambi says.
*Name changed to protect the woman's identity.
