Stakeholders in the fight against Gender Based Violence (GBV) in Kitui County have expressed concern over lack of authentic data on the vice to guide them in their activities.
The stakeholders regretted the presence of diverse GBV data from different actors involved in the GBV war hence complicating implementation of programmes aimed at ending the vice.
Stakeholders operating in the county raised the concern Monday during a County Gender Based Violence Technical Working Groups meeting where they called for the various local GBV data to be harmonized in order to pave way for an effective war against the crime.
During the meeting chaired by the Kitui County Gender Affairs Officer, Mrs. Luciana Ndila, the stakeholders further lamented that even the available GBV data lacked adequate information and follow ups of the GBV cases reported to health, security and other actors.
“We have cases of duplication of data especially where victims record a GBV case at a police station and the same case is recorded at the hospital. This makes it difficult for one to be sure of the actual data on GBV cases.
Some cases also lack details which can help in identifying double entries of the GBV data,” the county gender boss said while rooting for the harmonization and authentication of GBV data.
She also regretted that some GBV cases were not recorded as they were resolved in ‘kangaroo’ courts especially at village levels, hence frustrating efforts to get authentic data or mapping and evaluating the progress being made in the fight to end Gender Based Violence in the county.
Participants at the meeting called for a need to sensitize people in the villages to reject ‘Kangaroo’ courts and advised them to report at police stations and get treatment in hospitals.
“Over 400 GBV cases were recorded at health institutions in the county and forwarded to security officers for prosecution but less than 100 were prosecuted in the law courts. No details are available on the over 300 remaining cases,” the stakeholders lamented.
They also castigated GBV victims and relatives using GBV cases for financial gains at the ‘kangaroo’ courts, noting some victims withdraw cases after the kangaroo courts impose fines on the offenders. In other cases, they said, some people frame others for GBV crimes for personal gains, noting that such people were obstacles in addressing GBV matters.
By Denson Mututo and Janet Muthoni
