By Andanje Wakhungu
Kakamega has been recorded as one of the leading in gender based violence.
This has been registered as one of the main causes of the rising numbers of teenage pregnancies in the county.
The Kakamega County first lady Priscillah Oparanya has called on the relevant stakeholders to join hands and come to the rescue of the young girls being targeted by men as easy sexual prey.
The first lady who spoke during the commemoration of the International day for the elimination of violence against women and girls was responding to a report from the National population statistics that highlighted the county as among the leading in cases of girls pregnancies and abuse.
Mrs. Oparanya who also launched the county sexual gender based (SGBV) policy called on all stakeholders to join hands and be part of the 2021 gender campaign under the theme: ” Orange the World: End violence against women now! Zero teenage pregnancy,” that is set to rescue the young girls from the ugly jaws of sexual violence and abuse.
She said it was time the county woke up to the realities that 1000 girls were being impregnated monthly with another 5% of the general population being abused daily at household level terming it as a very sad and scary observation that needs immediate intervention.
The statistics further singled out Malava Sub County as the leading in matters (SGBV) with Manda Shivanga ward of which St. Monica Namatala girls is situated being termed as the hotbed of such violence.
This is what ignited grassroots operations operating together in sisterhood (GROOTS) Kenya team to plan a workshop at the school noting that some of the girls from the institution and within the locality have fell victims of sexual gender based violence.
Confirming the statistics, the Shivanga location chief Simon Nambwa said they have been receiving reports on such cases but they had failed to apprehend the culprits following lack of proper and valid birth certificates from the girls.
”Most of our parents have not registered their girls for birth certificates and some have dubious papers that cannot be traced in the registry making it impossible to ascertain the true age of the girls abused hence the suspects are released for lack of sufficient evidence”.
He further asked the parents to immediately report such cases without haste and within the stipulated time frame of 72 hours and ensure that the victims do not tamper with evidence at all.
The deputy principal St. Monica Namatala girls secondary school Beatrice Mukungu alluded to the fact that the girls especially the day scholars were exposed to outside influence from men on a daily basis.
She pointed out that most cases of such magnitude have been on the rise for long and requested the national government to set aside funds to put up a dormitory for the girls in the school in order to start boarding section as one way of keeping the girls safe from the male predators.
“We know many parents are unable to provide fully for their girls but this should not be an excuse for them to expose themselves to unwarranted sexual escapades in return for little favours.” She said
The sub County coordinator Groots Kenya Mary Shimwenyi said following data collected since the inception of the Covid 19 pandemic, it indicates that school going girls have been victims of sexual gender based violence with no assistance offered to them as parents have been compromised by the culprits.
She further revealed that they will be monitoring the school records for the next four years to see if the programme has produced positive results.
Gaudenzia Khateshi an advocate and legal consultant Groots Kenya, said Malava has been benchmarked following the data released hence they will create awareness and work with women and girls in safeguarding their rights.
“With the launching of the gender based violence policy in Kakamega County, we will be able to enlighten our people and institutions to have a basis on how to go about on matters related to ‘(SGBV) as we zero in on Kakamega County that has many unreported and compromised sexual cases.
