Kwame Otiende Foundation has embarked on establishing a Gender-Based Violence (GBV) rescue center at Oyugis police station.
The Foundation is working on the center to serve as a safe haven for children, especially girls who have been abused.
The organization’s Director, Kwame Otiende said they were establishing the center in partnership with National Police Service and Homa Bay County Government.
Otiende and his co-director Rupert Wilkinson joined Homa Bay County Chief Officer for Gender Jack Obonyo and the Officer Commanding Oyugis Police Station Thomas Odenyo in launching the construction of the center Monday.
Otiende said they started project due to the high rate of defilement and teen pregnancies in the area.
He said their principal objective is to reduce teen pregnancies by ensuring children have safe places where they can stay while their cases are going on.
Otiende said the center will facilitate realization of justice for victims of defilement and teen pregnancies.
“We came up with this project because Homa Bay has a high prevalence of teen pregnancies and defilement yet there is shortage of rescue centers. This center will create a conducive environment for taking legal action against perpetrators of the vice besides guaranteeing the children safe custody,” Otiende said.
Obonyo said the center will cushion victims from psychological torture when they are in the police station.
“Lack of rescue centers sometimes makes rescued children feel that they are also criminals whenever they are held in police stations because they are accommodated under conditions which are not conducive,” Obonyo said.
Odenyo said the law requires that a child should not be accommodated in a police cell.
“This center is going to help in protecting rights of the children more effectively,” he said.
By Davis Langat
