National Government Administration Officials in Homa Bay have been urged to double their efforts in the fight against sexual gender-based violence.
Nyanza Regional Commissioner Flora Mworao said Homa Bay is recording very high cases of defilement of girls, teen pregnancies and early marriages.
Homa Bay is one the counties with the leading cases of HIV infections and teen pregnancies. According to the Demographic Health (DHA) Survey 2022, the county has 23 per cent of teen pregnancy.
The Kenya Population-based HIV Impact Assessment (KENPHIA) result indicates that Homa Bay leads in the disease prevalence, at 19.6 per cent.
Mworoa said the trend is worrying and called on the local chiefs to put more effort and do away with out-of-court settlements which promote sexual gender-based violence in the society.
“More focus should be put on the prevention of unwanted pregnancy, HIV and SGBV. We’ll succeed if we double our efforts and work together,” Mworoa said.
Speaking on Wednesday when she met chiefs in Homa Bay town, the administrator directed the officials to take legal action against parents and guardians who cooperate with perpetrators.
They were urged not to relent from pursuing justice for victims of sexual assault.
Mworoa asked chiefs to remain vigilant on sex pests who beat justice through compromise.
She said the government is providing leadership and resources to tackle the vices in Homa Bay.
The county has already launched a policy guideline that will use in addressing forms of violence with regard to gender, political, social and economic.
“Let chiefs and their assistants work with parents and guardians whose children are sexually molested to ensure sex pests don’t escape,” she added.
Homa Bay commissioner Moses Lilan and the county executive for Youths and Gender Sarah Malit asked the chiefs to step up and fight production and consumption of illicit brew and drugs.
Lilan called for more surveillance along the Lake Victoria shoreline to curb infiltration of contraband in Homa Bay on grounds that they contribute to the increase of such vices.
Gender-based violence and other sexual molestation are reportedly rampant on beaches around the lake.
“We want chiefs to strengthen community policing through the nyumba kumi approach to weed out such criminals,” Lilan said.
Malit appealed for working together to address the vices.
“The implementation of SGBV policy cannot be successful if we don’t work with chiefs and other national government officials,” she said.
