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Violence, Culture and Conflict

Addressing Violence at National Level

A case study of Kenya

Kavutha Mutuvi

UN Women Kenya

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Background

• There is increasing awareness of the linkages between violence against women and girls, generally referred to as gender-based violence (GBV) and HIV transmission

• Evidence shows that the risk of HIV sero-conversion following sexual assault is higher than following consensual sex

• There is a similarity in the risk factors and consequences of HIV transmission and GBV thus the need for an integrated approach

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Dimensions, trends and types of GBV

• Cases of GBV, and in particular, SGBV seem to be on the rise in the country

• Defilement was reported as high in all sites

• Children aged 0-11years, mostly girls, are the main survivors

Age at 1st sexual intercourse

% whose 1st sexual intercourse was forced

No. of women who have ever had sex

<15 22.2 750

15-19 12.5 3,086

20-24 6.4 774

25-49 1.3 134

Inconsistent/missing

7.9 462

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Relationship between GBV and HIV prevalence

There is a relation between sexual violence and HIV prevalence as shown in the figure below

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Female Genital Cutting• Female genital cutting is still prevalent in the country• It is currently performed earlier – between ages 3 and 7 years,

compared to past practice (as shown below)

Age <3 3-7 8-9 10-11 12-13 14-18 19-26 Missing No. women

15-19 0.7 25.9 18.0 22.8 11.8 16.8 na 3.9 257

20-24 0.4 15.4 16.6 15.5 17.1 27.5 3.9 3.5 361

25-29 1.1 15.6 17.1 16.9 14.4 29.4 3.8 1.7 368

30-34 3.9 10.2 10.2 12.6 20.8 35.1 4.3 2.9 363

35-39 2.1 9.6 7.3 15.5 20.9 37.3 4.8 2.6 308

40-44 2.3 4.9 5.6 10.7 27.2 43.7 2.1 3.4 305

45-49 1.1 5.5 7.8 14.4 18.0 41.1 4.8 7.3 322

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Conflict, GBV & HIV and AIDS

• Political transitions in Kenya are characterized by civilian violence

• The 2013 period did not have as much physical and sexual violence as that experienced in 2007/8

• During conflict access to care services, including health, is interrupted and people with chronic conditions (such as HIV) are lost to follow-up

• The country experiences other forms (mainly sporadic) of violence that are resource-based

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Capacity building initiatives• Training of local administrators on GBV and HIV and AIDS

• Training of police officers at national police training colleage and at the service delivery points

• Establishment of ‘gender desks’ (although they serious limitations). A respondent of a study with high violence prevalence observed that:

“The gender desk at the police station has been particularly helpful and the survivors get a lot of support. The attitudes at this level have really changed…”

• Training paralegals in GBV and HIV and AIDS

• Male involvement initiatives

• Community sensitization and education by NGOs, CBOs, the government, etc

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Some good practices

• Programmes that seek to involve men, such as Men Engage reach out to groups and locations that are often neglected

• Stepping Stones, Men as Partners, Men Care and One Million Fathers Campaign have proven effective to enhances male involvement in both HIV/AIDS and GBV

• One-Stop-Centres in Rwanda, Malawi and South Africa provide access to police officers, health care and shelter for survivors under one roof – good practices

• Mobile courts that provide survivors with real time support in remote areas of India ensure that cases are handled in a timely manner within familiar environments

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Opportunities for an integrated approach

• The devolution of service delivery to County governments provides an opportunity for counties to plan for GBV and HIV and AIDS

• Use of the International Women’s Day every 8th of March to sensitize communities and policy makers on the need to comprehensively address GBV in the country

• Rally the support of opinion leaders, such as the First Ladies and her campaign on Beyond Zero to address GBV and HIV and AIDS

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Key challenges and gaps

• Community level factors– Late reporting of cases due to the tendency to solve

issues locally. A GVRC service provider observed that: ‘only 10-15% of the cases are reported. The rest are resolved in the communities.’

– Local level mitigation measures especially when minors are involved due to the stiff judicial penalties

– The culture and the same associated with GBV

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Key challenges and gaps

• Legal justice systems– Cases take too long leading to loss of interest and

witnesses– Allowing perpetrators bail leads to interference with

the processes– Fear of the police deters survivors and their families

from pursuing cases– There are challenges in the collection, storage,

transfer and use of evidence in the court system– Lack of shelters – in some cases child survivors are

taken to juvenile homes or are sheltered by individuals

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Key challenges and gaps

• Inadequate capacity of health facilities to meet the needs of survivors– Staff rotation and transfers interfere with the

provision of services in most facilities – Limited number of trained service providers, such

as trauma counsellors – Lack of funding for GBV activities. This was

identified as a key challenge to the GVRCs

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Key challenges and gaps

• Conflict situations– Lack of structures to deal with GBV under normal

conditions has serious implications during conflict when there is a general lack of coordination, focus and order

– Safety of the women, girls and men left behind in their communities or in camps is compromised by the care givers (police, aid workers, etc)

– Health service provision is affected such that access to ART and other life saving treatment is often limited if at all available

Women and girls with disability face even worse risks and disadvantage during conflict

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Priority actions

Establish one-stop centers to provide integrated models of care in each County

TheJaramogi Oginga Odinga GVRC

(2) Strengthen and establish technical working groups on GBV and HIV and AIDS. These should be done in each County

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Priority actions

(3) Invest in prevention through community sensitization and education by use of existing community structures

(4) Strengthen the legal and justice systems and ensure the protection of survivors

(5) Strengthen the provision of medical treatment at all levels

– The minimum package of GBV should be availed at all health service delivery points

A poster encouraging people to report abuse to a friendly police station

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Priority actions

• Invest in early warning and protection of women and girls during conflict– Establish a fund under the NGEC to ensure rapid

response to GBV during conflict

• Implement social support programmes in the form of cash transfers for children and women survivors

• Develop and implement standard operating procedures (SOPs) for integrating HIV and AIDS into GVRCs and other care centers

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Priority actions

• Conduct research on factors influencing defilement – this would entail documenting and profiling cases of abuse across the country

• Develop a referral tool that is uniformly used across the country

Most importantly: the government and implementing partners should implement the existing laws while undertaking critical reforms on GBV