Human Rights defenders in Kericho County staged peaceful demonstrations around Kericho Town, as the World marked International Human Rights Day.
Hundreds of activists from various civil society organizations took to the streets with placards chanting slogans calling an end to the rising cases of femicide, and Gender-Based Violence in the country, with this year’s theme being “Our Rights, Our Future, Right Now.”
Kericho County Coordinator of ‘End Femicide KE” Movement Emmy Nekesa pointed out that every day this year 1 to 3 women and girls in Kenya were viciously murdered by their spouses, neighbors, colleagues at work and strangers.
Nekesa shared the alarming statistics of Cases of Gender-Based-Violence (GBV) in Kericho which have risen this year with over 963 cases reported in all the Six Sub-Counties with the majority of victims being between the ages of 18 and 49.
“Femicide is the most extreme form of gender-based violence against women and girls who undergo sexual, physical and psychological violence like rape, incest, and sexual harassment, physical assault using hands, weapons and tools, hot water, acid, fire, domestic violence, and intimate partner violence, stalking and doxing,” stressed Nekesa.
The protestors demanded for declaration of violence against women and femicide as a national crisis that requires emergency response and the establishment of a commission on the elimination of Femicide and violence against women and girls composed of national African and International feminists comprising 60 percent women and 40 percent men.
On the other hand, Human Rights Defender Salim Barnabas urged the judiciary to create a court that will focus specifically on GBV cases across the country and classify femicide as a distinct crime in the Criminal Code since the vice has continued to rise to alarming levels.
“We are calling for an end to these vices meted mainly on women and girls. We are saying NO to Gender-based violence and Femicide. Women must be respected and protected,” said Salim.
Meanwhile, the Kericho County Health Services Chief Officer Dr. Japhet Cheruiyot assured that a GBV Rescue Center would soon be established in Kericho to cater to the victims and ensure they receive counseling services after they have been treated and discharged from hospitals.
“Gender-based violence victims that we receive every day are well taken care of at the Kericho County Referral Hospital and we have issued a directive across all the hospitals in Kericho County, that GBV diagnosis and treatment is offered free of charge,” said Cheruiyot.
Human Rights Day was the final day for the 16 days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence with calls for accountability and action to end the vices within the society.
By Kibe Mburu
