The principal Secretary for State Department for Gender and Affirmative Action Ann Wang’ombe has promised to hold monthly meetings with Busia Gender Technical Working Group in order to ensure that Gender Based Violence cases are addressed.
Speaking after a consultative meeting with Busia County security team and gender sector stakeholders over the weekend, Wang’ombe noted that the county experiences many cases of GBV with many remaining unreported.
“Last month we had 477 cases of GBV reported in Busia, that means we have many that were not reported. In July we had 316 that were reported. From the statistics, it shows that the cases are going high day by day, “she said.
She pointed out that the county is experiencing unique challenges that have contributed to gender-based violence.
“Busia county has its own interesting characteristics considering that it is a cross-border county, we have cross-border dynamics. We have economic pressure and cultural norms that are deeply entrenched among community members. These are the challenges that contribute to GBV thereby a need to address these issues while on the ground,” she said.
The PS stated that the stakeholder agreed to form a multi-agency team that will be meeting on a monthly basis to review the action taken.
“The mandate of the taskforce will be reviewing what we have done on the strategies we have developed, how well we have implemented them, and where there are gaps; we close them. The team has also revealed that the judiciary has been supportive in the fight against GBV,” she said.
The PS said more sensitisation will be cascaded to all sub-counties in the county to ensure many people have been equipped with the information as a way of helping to fight the increased cases in the county.
Wang’ombe lauded the country for having good policies and laws and called for the need for proper implementation of the policies.
“Unless we implement these laws and policies effectively, then we are doing nothing. This can be done at the county and the sub-county level for us to ensure we have sanity in gender issues,” she said.
“Some of the perpetrators are relatives, which means we have lost it as a society. We also have cases where people don’t report GBV cases because of fear of being mistreated by their family members. We are committed to ensuring that Busia county becomes a modern region of not only preventing but also giving the best response to GBV,” she said.
The stakeholders appealed to the government to help in establishing a Gender-Based Violence Recovery Centre for safe custody of GBV survivors.
By Salome Alwanda and Rodgers Omondi
