Wajir women have a reason to be happy after the opening of a facility expected to be a game-changer in the fight against gender-based violence and FGM.
The GBV and FGM victims recovery centre is the culmination of years of agitation against the outmoded practices.
The centre has a fully equipped gender desk with free hotline numbers to receive complaints from violence victims.
It was officially opened as the world marked the International Day of the Elimination of Violence Against Women. There will be 16 days of activism until December 10.
Wajir Governor Mohamed Abdi, who opened the centre, appealed to residents to report any incident of GBV to realise the dream of a county free of Sexual Gender-Based Violence Against Women.
“As a county, we are doing everything we can to ensure that violence against women is stopped. I call upon every individual to support this campaign,” Abdi said.
Early this year, the county assembly passed the Anti-Sexual and Gender-Based Violence Bill 2019, proof that leaders are committed to fight the vice.
The governor said funds had been set aside for women's empowerment programmes.
“Through these funds, we’ve seen women set up businesses which have improved their living standards. We hope to do even more in future,” he said.
A total of 68 GBV cases were reported in the county in the past one year. Five involved physically-challenged victims. Rape and defilement cases were also reported.
Data at the Wajir Referral Hospital shows that two rapes resulted in pregnancy this year. Four of the rape incidents were presented to the hospital within 72 hours.
Women activists Sofia Gedi and Fatuma Yussuf welcomed the recovery centre, saying it was long overdue.
The two are members of Wajir civil society and have been at the forefront in the campaign against violence on girls and women.
“We remain hopeful that the newly opened centre will catapult the county into bigger strides in achieving human rights for victims of GBV,”Gedi said.
She added: “Lack of a safe house for survivors in Wajir has been a challenge for many years. We have been very frustrated by the long delays in getting back DNA tests.
"We recommend that a forensic laboratory be built urgently in Garissa town, which is nearer to us, to expedite justice for survivors of sexual violence.”
Fatuma said rescue centres should be increased in FGM-prone areas and facilitated to provide home to young girls running away from FGM and early marriages.
Community policing committee chairperson Mohamed Mohamed said some of the major cases reported include domestic violence, defilement, incest, rape and early marriages.
