•The training workshop was attended by law students from CUEA as well as Africa Nazarene University, JKUAT, and Technology, and Kabarak University.
•GBV cases are mostly committed by family members and they happen at homes where victims reside.
Image: THE STAR
Gender-Based Violence victims often experience delayed or denied services in their quest to get justice, according to the experts.
During training on gender-sensitive litigation on Friday, the Center for Rights Education and Awareness (CREAW) said justice was vital in the fight against the vice.
The training workshop was attended by law students from CUEA as well as Africa Nazarene University, JKUAT, and Technology, and Kabarak University.
According to Felix Opondo, a clinical psychologist, the community perception of sexual offences is a contributor to increased fear and stigmatization among victims.
He said the victims are viewed as an embarrassment to the community and family, hence they end up in an ambivalent state.
“Trauma is an overwhelming event that renders victims helpless, and therefore they react with horror and fear. The community creates an unconducive environment for the survivors,” said Opondo during a press conference at the Catholic University of Eastern Africa last week.
According to UNICEF, Gender-based violence (GBV) is the most pervasive yet least visible human rights violation in the world. It includes physical, sexual, mental or economic harm inflicted on a person because of socially ascribed power imbalances between males and females.
GBV cases are mostly committed by family members and they happen at homes where victims reside.
Opondo said reporting and pursuing such cases become complicated when the relatives intervene to preserve their family image.
Further, he said GBV victims fail to report such cases because they are afraid they would be forced to represent themselves in court as victims and also witnesses.
“In the access to justice, we need to be cognizant of the mental state of the victims in courtrooms when asking them to describe traumatic events because whatever they have in mind disappears due to fear and embarrassment,” said Opondo.
He said when the accused is praised because of the high roles they hold in society, it negatively affects the victims.
Speaking during the same event, Florence Anyim, Director of Community Policing, Gender and Child protection Kenya Police, assured Kenyans that they have come up with measures to ensure that clients are getting the required services when they report GBV cases.
“Let us all strive to create awareness and community policy to the public so that the victims know they can be helped and should not shy away to report the cases,” said Anyim.