Slums youths want GBV response strengthened this holiday

As Kenyans begin the holiday festivities, young people living in Nairobi’s informal settlements are ushering in something else.

They are welcoming the prospect of reporting an increase in incidences of sexual gender-based violence, especially among youth currently on a break from school, until the end of January.

Faith Abala, Programme Officer at the Network for Adolescent and Youth of Africa (NAYA Kenya) said that multiple studies show that young girls and women in informal settlements are more prone to sexual and gender-based violence.

According to national data, over 36 per cent of women living in slum areas have reported being forced to perform sexual acts on at least one occasion.

"These cases tend to spike during festive seasons due to the intoxication that accompanies merrymaking,” she said.

Susan Wairimu, a resident of Mathare, said that youth from the slums are at risk of engaging in substance abuse and dangerous sexual activity during this time.

“Many low-income communities have a higher population of youth as older people tend to relocate to rural areas, leaving many youths to navigate city life with little guidance,” she said.

As a result, she said, men take advantage of unsuspecting girls and young women, offering them money and food in exchange for sexual favours.

In 2019, the National Crime Research Centre in Kenya reported in the first six months of 2020 an increase of GBV cases by 92.2 per cent compared to the same period in 2019.

“71 per cent of the victims were female and cases were particularly rampant in informal settlements in the major cities,” they found.

All this while schools were closed and many people were forced to stay at home.

Samira Hussein, a resident of the Kamukunji area said the relationship between slum community members and the police is not always friendly.

“So those who report such incidences are seen as being friends with the enemy and the resulting social isolation leaves you even worse than you would have been if you had just been silent,” she said.

Abala said now more than ever, the government needs to ensure that sexual violence referral systems in the counties are working.

“Do we have operational gender desks in police stations and how friendly are these services? Are police equipped to handle the reports with the sensitivity required?” She asked.

Wairimu added that young people lack access to gender-responsive health services, as well as access to fact-based and sexual reproductive health rights information.

This results in high levels of unwanted teenage pregnancies resulting from sexual violence and ending in unsafe abortions.