Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) is rising across Kenya, and a new national report has laid bare the depth of the crisis.
The Jukwaa la Usalama Report reveals that despite years of campaigns, policy reforms, and public awareness efforts, the country continues to grapple with entrenched structural, cultural and operational barriers that prevent survivors from accessing justice and meaningful protection.
According to the report, SGBV remains pervasive largely because under-reporting is still widespread, driven by stigma, fear of reprisal, limited access to justice, cultural norms, and frequent reliance on non-judicial settlements that favour perpetrators.
High case numbers have been recorded in the Western, Nyanza, Coast and Central regions, with the so-called “Triple Threat”—teenage pregnancy, new HIV infections and SGBV—affecting young people at alarming levels.
Counties such as Kisii, Nyamira, Narok, Vihiga, Kajiado, Bomet, Kilifi and Taita Taveta have reported some of the highest incidences.
Yet the report stresses that while the problem is national
in scale, counties remain on the frontline of dealing with it—and many simply
lack the capacity to respond effectively.
Across almost all counties, the report notes glaring systemic weaknesses that slow or collapse the SGBV response chain.
These include a lack of forensic capacity and delays in results from the Government Chemist, insufficient gender desks and the absence of trained female officers in rural police stations, inadequate psychosocial support and a severe shortage of safe houses for survivors.
The report also points to cultural interference and the intimidation of witnesses during investigations, which significantly undermines prosecutions.
Poor coordination between the police, prosecution and health facilities leads to frequent case collapses, leaving survivors without justice and reinforcing a cycle of silence and impunity.
During the nationwide Jukwaa la Usalama forums, participants repeatedly linked the rise of SGBV to alcoholism, drug abuse and poverty, noting that many communities are experiencing a breakdown of traditional social controls amid worsening economic pressures.
The result, they warned, is an environment where violence thrives, especially against women, girls and children.
The report proposes a suite of interventions aimed at strengthening county-level responses. These include andatory prosecution of all defilement cases with no room for mediation or withdrawal; operationalisation of Children Protection Units (CPUs) in every sub-county; establishment of gender desks in all police stations, staffed by trained officers and crackdowns on illicit brews.
Also proposed was collaboration with NGOs and faith-based organisations to provide safe houses and rehabilitation centres; and prioritising the establishment of forensic facilities in high SGBV caseload regions to speed up evidence processing.
The Jukwaa la Usalama initiative itself was created to offer citizens, leaders and government officials a platform to discuss security and service delivery challenges linked to the State Departments for Internal Security, Immigration and Correctional Services and the National Police Service.
Conducted over six months, beginning April 7, 2025 in Mombasa and concluding in Nairobi on October 2, 2025, the forums covered all 47 counties, spotlighting weaknesses in coordination, governance, and access to essential services including birth and death registration.
But it is the findings on SGBV that have stirred the greatest concern—aligning with what national officials are witnessing on the ground.
Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen warned of a spike in sexual and gender-based violence cases in parts of the Western and Nyanza regions, cautioning that numbers are rising even as the country observes the global 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence.
“We have wife beatings, husband beatings, and all these forms of violence … We want to upscale the fight against these issues, especially during this period when the whole world is reflecting on ending gender-based violence,” Murkomen said.
The release of the Jukwaa la Usalama Report coincides with the 2025 international campaign, which runs from November 25 to December 10 under the global UN theme, "UNiTE to End Digital Violence against All Women and Girls."
The campaign, led by UN Women, aims to raise awareness and mobilise action against all forms of violence targeting women and girls, including online abuse.
It also calls for stronger laws, accountability from tech companies, increased funding for feminist organisations and more public awareness on the issue.
The Kenyan findings are part of a wider global concern. The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that despite two decades of global interventions, rates of gender-based violence have remained largely unchanged.
More than one in four women in the Western Pacific Region—including countries such as Cambodia—continue to experience intimate partner or sexual violence. WHO further notes that globally, nearly one in three women have faced such violence in their lifetime, a figure that has barely shifted since 2000.
The organisation describes the stagnation as an “indisputable reality”—proof that the world is not moving fast enough to prevent what it calls a preventable crisis. WHO characterises gender-based violence as both a social and public health emergency, emphasising that its consequences are severe and far-reaching.
“Violence has profound and lasting effects on girls’ and women’s health and development − contributing to depression, injury, poor reproductive outcomes and limiting their full participation in society,” WHO said in a statement.
In Kenya, the story is the same; survivors face physical harm, trauma, social stigma, economic hardship and lifelong health complications. Counties—tasked with frontline prevention, survivor support and case management—are buckling under the weight of a problem that far exceeds their resources.
