Training camps have been cited as breeding grounds for sexual exploitation and physical abuse of female athletes in Kenya.
A report by ministerial committee on gender welfare and equity in sports has revealed that the said camps are mostly managed by men.
Gerry Kweya from the committee said even in female teams,76 per cent of the managers and technical teams are male with the remaining 24 per cent being women.
The report further revealed 80 per cent of federations are ran by men with women left with only 20 per cent.
This leaves the female athletes who most of the time are young and inexperienced under the mercies of the coaches, team mates and the managers who have been listed as the top abusers.
It is worrying that 57 per cent of the respondents admitted that the abuse had happened more than 10 times.
“The abuses in training camps are fuelled by the fact that these girls were handed over to the coaches by their own parents and they do not have anyone to turn to,” Kweya said.
The committee further revealed that abuses were also reported during international trips especially at the changing rooms and at the restaurants and bars.
The report which was launched during the first day of Agnes Tirop conference further revealed a majority of the victims prefer not reporting the cases.
Forty-three per cent of the victims indicated they persevered in silence, 29 per cent thought it was not important while 14 per cent said they talked about it but no action was taken.
Kweya said the abuses have been normalised by the stakeholders including the victims and their team mates giving the vice an opportunity to flourish.
Lack of education, poverty and experience was listed among the reasons for GBV among the female athletes.
Forty-eight per cent of the victims had attained secondary school education while 49 per cent had post-secondary education.
The survey which was conducted in October 2020 targeted 486 female athletes from Athletics Kenya, Kenya Rugby Union, the Kenya Volleyball Federation and Kenya Handball Federation.
Kweya said the vice was flourishing due to lack of police reporting and prosecutorial policies and structures.
As an intervention, the committee recommended the shutting down of training camps and instead partner with Ministry of Education to identify schools which will incorporate training at the school level.
Alternatively, the committee urged the Sports ministry to have the camps ran and managed by women and further identify retired female athletes who can train and coach the rising talents.
“We also need to train the female athletes on identifying the abuses even before they starts,”Kweya said.
Public Service and Gender CAS Lina Jebii Kilimo said there is need to vet all the coaches before they are allowed to train in any camp across the country.
“When we vet these coaches, we will be able to separate a qualified coach from a quack thus eliminating any chance of abuse in the camps,” she said.