A civil society and Gender-based activist Shamalla Immaculate has urged the county and national governments to allocate more funds to support the war against Gender Based Violence in Western Kenya.
Addressing the press after a one-day training on Gender sensitive reporting for journalists in Kocholia, Teso North Sub County, Shamalla also urged the media to amplify cases of GBV and give inherent solutions and suggestions in order to promote safer places for men and boys.
“Journalists play an important role in setting the agenda by being the eye and mirror of the community. The media fraternity also play a critical role in informing and provoking the community so that we have transformation,” she stated.
Another role of journalism is to educate so that citizens can engage on civic duty including public participation to reverse the unwarranted trend, which has seen Western Region take the lead in GVB in Kenya. This is attributed to poverty and lack of civic education as per the County Government Act, noted Shamalla.
The human rights activist further noted journalism shapes public perception, amplifies the voice of the underrepresented, marginalized and the minority among others.
She said that 60% of the population held in Kenyan prisons was affecting development, since the majority of them are the youth.
At the same time, Shamalla pointing out that framing of Gender sensitive reporting should be sensitive, all-inclusive and balanced.
Further, the activist added that the reporting should also entail ethics and inclusive practice, while the language should be empowering, not gender blind or demeaning.
Busia County was the last stop for 16 days of activism with training for journalists to highlight GBV cases and to involve stakeholders in a bid to end the vice and push for budget increase to fight the vice.
The 16-day exercise which ran from November 26th to December 10 commenced with a demo in Trans Nzoia County before cascading to other counties in Western Kenya.
Shamalla noted that boda boda riders should take up the role of champions to fight GBV at homes, considering that they offer rides to victims of GBV, whether male or female.
Free Pentecostal Fellowship in Kenya (FPFK) programme manager Belinda Ondisa said it’s disheartening that there are no statistics on men/boys GBV.
“The normal practice is only to empower women and girls. There is a paradigm shift whereby men and boys are now victims of GBV, thus the need to empower them,” she said.
A boda boda rider Andrew Imojir said a low number of statistics for men and boys was attributed to failure to report such cases due to stigmatisation and the believe that it’s a taboo for a man or boy to report such cases when violated by a woman or girl.
Dennis Wafula from FPFK said women were major contributing factors for rapid suicide cases among men owing to high demands, thus the need to educate them on the need to reverse this worrying trend.
By Absalom Namwalo
