State refutes claims of failing to prevent GBV during pandemic

The government has dismissed reports that it failed to adequately protect victims of gender violence during the Covid-19 pandemic period. 

Ministry of Public Service, Youth and Gender Cabinet Secretary Margaret Kobia said the report by Human Rights Watch saying the state failed to ensure the availability of services to protect women and girls from Gender-Based Violence during the pandemic is misleading. 

Last week Tuesday, Human Rights Watch released a report titled ‘I Had Nowhere To Go: Violence Against Women and Girls During the Covid-19 Pandemic in Kenya’ highlighting the experiences of over 13 survivors.

The report says the survivors had a hard time accessing economic, health and social support services from the government that would have helped them cope during the pandemic.

Though initiatives by the government were in place to curb GBV, the organisation said they were ineffective and inadequate.

For example, safe houses for victims were not enough, access to health facilities was limited due to fear of contracting Covid-19 and law enforcement's response to cases was ineffective.

However, in a press statement on Tuesday, Kobia denied the claims saying the report did not paint a true picture of how the government handled GBV cases across the country.

“The report has created a false perception that stands a real risk of causing unnecessary anxiety to already burdened victims of GBV in Kenya and who may find it difficult to seek the support needed and which is available to them,” she said.

The ministry said although they do not dismiss the experiences of the survivors, it is misleading for Human Rights Watch to generalise the handling of such cases and condemn the government wholesale based on a non-representative interview sample of 26 persons.

The ministry also alleged that no efforts whatsoever had been made by the organisation to share the report with relevant stakeholders like government for their right of reply.

According to the report, 26 respondents were engaged in the collection of information including two officials from POLICARE and the state department of gender, but they did not mention contacting the ministry for comment.

The organisation holds that testimonies from the respondents is sufficient basis for their conclusion that the government’s response towards the cases was too little, too late and that they should have anticipated and properly planned for the risk of increased gender-based violence during the pandemic.

“The National Emergency Response Committee on Coronavirus set up in February 2020 had no representatives from the Ministry of Gender. Thus, it did not prioritise and include critical warning, detection, data collection and protection measures for women and girls in the national government contingency plans,” reads the report.

The ministry however outlined the various steps it took to protect women, girls, boys and men from violence during the pandemic citing measures such as availing national GBV toll-free hot-line 1195.

Affirmative Action Funds were also increased, according to the ministry, scaling up lending to women, youth and people living with disabilities.

“We also provided immediate assistance to survivors through online counselling and referrals from medical and legal services and safe spaces as well as established GBV recovery centres in all level 5 hospitals countrywide,” Kobia said.

The ministry called on Human Rights Watch to remain true to its value of independence.

“Fundamentally, the protection of rights of women and girls is dependent on accountability of our actions, the same driven by a genuine desire to promote and protect women and girls.”

She assured women and girls that the state was committed to its cause to eliminate gender-based violence and continue to build on its collective gains, delivering concrete steps towards achieving President Uhuru Kenyatta’s commitment to ending GBV by 2026.

-Edited by SKanyara