• Social distancing, extreme lockdown or quarantines will increase survivors' vulnerability to abuse and the need for protective services.
• 25.5 per cent of Kenyan women have experienced sexual and/or physical intimate partner violence in the past year.
Image: KELVIN MUTINDA
Staying indoors during this period is a necessary measure to stop the spread of the new coronavirus, but for some Kenyans it means being trapped at home with their abusers.
The mobility restrictions put in place to curb the spread of coronavirus are likely to increase the number of violence in homes, an equality lobby has told the government.
Kenya had confirmed 31 cases of Covid-19, with one fatality, by Thursday. Citizens are being encouraged to maintain a distance of at least one metre from each other. Better still stay in the safety of their homes.
President Uhuru Kenyatta has also order a 7pm-5am curfew .
But Kenya Fight Alliance says restrictions such as social distancing, extreme lockdowns or quarantines will increase survivors' vulnerability to abuse and the need for protective services.
"We urge the government to recognise intimate partner violence as an added complication in the midst of the pandemic that requires ‘shelter in place’ quarantine. Homes are often dangerous spaces for victims of domestic violence," national coordinator Antonia Musunga said.
UN Women deputy executive director Anita Bhatia asked governments to ensure that hotlines and services for all victims of domestic abuse are considered “essential services".
Bhatia added they need to be kept open and law enforcement sensitised to be responsive to calls from victims.
In Canada, Quebec and Ontario have included shelters for women survivors in the list of essential services.
"This will ensure that the pandemic does not inadvertently lead to more trauma, injury and deaths during the quarantine period, given the high proportion of violent deaths of women perpetrated by intimate partners," Bhatia said.
Dada Power Kenya secretary general Serah Thiga said accessing the gender desk in police stations will be an uphill task and even so, domestic violence cases will be shelved to prioritise coronavirus.
"Women’s mental health in aggressive environments will ascend quickly as her previous support systems are unavailable or are far from her as social distancing is encouraged. The Covid-19 pandemic will leave many women to whom home is not a safe space wanton and abused," she said.
Thiga said staying indoors in a violent home or environment breeds more violence due to lack of daily streams of income.
"Sadly, I am concerned to note that the Ministry of Gender and Youth Affairs has not come up with strategies of how such women could cope or preventive interventions that could apply. These women are solely fighting this," she said
According to a study on the impact of natural disasters on domestic violence, in the disaster recovery context domestic violence carries potentially unique implications due to limited safe housing and loss of community network.
"Intimate partner violence remains largely under-reported, and data collection in areas devastated by a natural disaster is understandably methodologically challenging," reads the study.
The disaster context may worsen existing barriers to reporting and even contribute to community-wide indifference toward the issue, as victims are encouraged to forgive their abusers, or are accused of being inconsiderate or overreacting.
According to UN Women, 40.7 per cent of women have experienced physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence in their lifetime while 25.5 per cent have experienced the same in the past year.
The State Department of Gender established a hotline (1195) for survivors of gender violence in partnership with Healthcare Assistance Kenya.
The hotline only caters for survivors of sexual and gender violence around the country.
Edited by A.N