Kenya: Survivors of Gender-Based Violence Lack Help

Effective Law Enforcement, Access to Shelter, Financial Support Are Critical

(Nairobi) – The Kenyan government’s response to gender-based violence during the Covid-19 pandemic has been too little, too late, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today.

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“At least six people died from police violence during the first 10 days of Kenya’s dusk-to-dawn curfew”

The 61-page report, “‘I Had Nowhere to Go’: Violence against Women and Girls during the Covid-19 Pandemic in Kenya,” documents how the Kenyan government’s failure to ensure services to prevent gender-based violence and provide assistance to survivors under its Covid-19 response measures facilitated an increase in sexual and other violence against women and girls. Survivors faced increased harm due to Kenyan authorities’ failure to ensure that they have access to comprehensive, quality, and timely medical treatment; mental health care and protection services; financial assistance; and to properly investigate and prosecute cases.

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“The pandemic is not the first time Kenya has witnessed increases in violence against women and girls during crises,” said Agnes Odhiambo, senior women’s rights researcher, and head of the Nairobi office at Human Rights Watch. “The government should have anticipated such an increase, but tragically as in the past, it turned a blind eye and failed to protect women and girls against violence.”

Human Rights Watch interviewed thirteen survivors of gender-based violence, four parents and a relative of girls who experienced such violence, a community activist who is caring for three girls who are survivors, a shelter worker, five representatives of nongovernmental organizations working on gender-based violence, a Kenyan expert on gender-based violence, and officials from POLICARE, the police program to respond to such violence, and the State Department for Gender Affairs. Human Rights Watch also reviewed reports from the government, nongovernmental groups, the United Nations, and the media.