Narok residents can now report cases of Gender Based Violence (GBV) at ease after a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) donated a tent which is pitched at the Narok town police station where the cases can be heard in privacy.
Ann Akida of Konnect Youth Consultum said they took the initiative of buying the tent after realizing that many people shy off from reporting GBV incidents because the cases are normally heard in the open.
Akida who spoke while handing over the tent to Narok Central Sub County Police Commander Frederick Shiundu said many people were suffering in silence for fear of reporting sensitive cases to the police and opted to committing suicide or engaging in drug abuse.
“We expect more people to visit the police station to report GBV cases as opposed to before when people would fear being seen by the public,” she said, asking the residents to take advantage of the tent and visit the police station to report GBV cases so as to bring justice to the victims.
She observed that many cases of defilement, child abuse, early marriages, boy child labour and Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) among others went unreported because of fear of being victimized by the society.
“When you report GBV cases, you are viewed as an enemy in the society and sometimes segregated from the rest of the community. This makes many people fear reporting these cases hence the culprits go unpunished,” she said.
On his part, Shiundu lauded the NGO for giving the tents saying they will help in hiding victims who come to seek justice at the police station.
“The tent will be a safe, hidden place where the victims and witnesses can record statements and report any incident of GBV. We are grateful for such a donation,” he said.
Meanwhile, Narok County has been recording increasing cases of teenage pregnancies with the latest report from the Ministry of Education showing that over 700 school going children were pregnant.
By Ann Salaton
