Election Related Gender Based Violence
04 August, 2022
In a just released report by FIDA Kenya, at least 745 women aspirants as well as their supporters were subjected to election related sexual gender based violence during the primaries. In 5 days, Kenyans head to the polls, so this focus could not be timelier.
Despite a progressive new Constitution and strengthened institutions and laws developed to prevent and respond to sexual violence, the Kenya National Commission on Human rights documented 201 cases reported to have occurred in 11 counties during the last general Kenyan elections back in 2017. Since then, Kenya has attempted to address rising incidents of violence against women by enacting specific laws and policies, but huge challenges have limited the success of these laws and policies and Election Related Sexual Gender-Based Violence (ESGBV) still remains a key concern in the lead up to the 2022 general elections
Now more than ever, we are challenging the government to put in place strategies to protect against electoral gender based violence and implement the existing guidelines on managing sexual violence to protect women and girls and end the liberty that has allowed conflict-related sexual violence to thrive without accountability to survivors.