Gender-Based Violence (GBV), being one of the worst violations of human rights, has robbed respect and a sense of safety from elderly women and teens in Mwala Machakos.
It was for this reason that Wamunyu Senior Resident Magistrate (SM) Eugene Pascal called for urgent action from leaders and the authorities.
SM Pascal was speaking in Wamunyu Mwala Sub-County during a stakeholder forum that brought together court users, human rights advocates, survivors and the Women Representative, where he disclosed that there was an increase of rape cases for elderly women over 70 years and teenagers in Mwala.
He pointed out that they have observed that when victims appeared in court, they seemed visibly shaken, distressed, terrified, and traumatized and unable to divulge the details of the abuse, while blaming societal and community pressures that force victims to withdraw the cases and resort to kangaroo courts.
“The number of elderly women getting raped is on the rise and the challenge is community pressure to withdraw the case by shaming and blaming the victim, causing unimaginable emotional damage,” added Pascal.
The Magistrate noted they have also discovered a case of rapists who have defilement cases in different towns, as they specifically target People with disability (PWDs) and teenagers who are not schooling and were always within the villages as easy targets.
Pascal called for statutory amendments at the investigation stage for police to be allowed to take video evidence of victims speaking as they report the assault at the police station. This, he says, would be used in court or hospitals in case the victim is unable to repeat the gruesome details of the assault, which deepens the trauma.
The Magistrate highlighted the challenge of family break-up where the mother relocates with the victim to a remote town and cuts-off communications, making it difficult for justice to be achieved and divulged that there were currently 15 cases of relocated minors in Wamunyu.
He also advocated for more counselors and psychologists in each hospital to deal with the increasing GBV cases
Edward Nyabala, the Children’s Officer in Mwala Sub-County, said the cases of defilement have to be dealt with by encouraging the teens to speak out without fear or shame.
He added that they were also dealing with the challenge of teenage pregnancy that is affecting the teens in Mwala, where urgent intervention is needed.
Betty Kasiva, a survivor from Matuu in Mwala, noted that she experienced GBV after her husband shot her in the face and after a quick medical intervention, she had to run back to her parents’ house for fear of more violence from her husband. She encouraged women to speak up on GBV.
Another survivor, Jackline Mwende from Mwala, whose hand was chopped off by her husband, said she had experienced extreme violence in her marriage.
She said that following increased GBV and rape cases in Machakos, she came forward to encourage women to speak up and walk out from abusive marriages.
“I am here to encourage women to speak up and not to feel threatened by their spouses or the community,” said Mwende.
Also present was Machakos Women Representative Kamene Kasimbi, who reminded the participants of a recent case where a form three girl was raped by two men just outside her school gate and no arrests have been made.
She blamed the police for lack of urgency for rape cases, thus delaying the justice process.
“The girl was raped just as she was getting to school. She was taken to hospital but there was no follow-up. The police who received the report have done nothing about it and that says a lot about the gap in the justice system,” decried Kasimbi
She condemned the increasing number of school dropouts and teenage pregnancies and called for collaboration from different organizations and the government in empowering women to fight against GBV and defilement cases.
By Anne Kangero
