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| Colllaboration of Women In Development lobbysts Tom Ng'ar at a recent function. Image (Courtesy) |
By PETER KOMBE
Lobbyists in
Mombasa county working on gender based violence in Mombasa County have
raised concern on the insufficiency of safe houses for victims of sexual gender
based violence. SGBV
According to
the lobbyists of all the 47 counties, only one county has erected ample safe
houses for sexually abused victims.
Speaking to
the media In Mombasa during a review
meeting for Ending Double Tragedy project in a Mombasa hotel, Collaboration on Women
in Development Executive Director Batty Sharon said SGBV cases of became
rampant during the lockdown period due to the stay at home order by government.
According to
her the government provide all the essential services during the covid19 period
and left out some of the basic including delivery of services to sexually
violated victims.
“The
government concentrated on other essential services such as water, foodstuff
among other and forgot about the provision of essential services such as the
victims of sexual violence,” said Sharon.
She however cites lack of reporting of
sexually violated cases as one of the challenges facing SGBV victims.
The three
month report is aimed at reducing the number of cases of SGBV in the six sub
counties of Mombasa County.
She applauded
the county government of Mombasa saying it is the first county to develop the
SGBV policy.
According to
her the policy will go a long way in addressing SGBV cases witnessed within the
county.
At the same
time, Tunaweza Women with Disability Executive Director Charity Chahasi says
there is need for the national government to set up proper infrastructure for
people with disability.
She wants the
national government to train medical staff on sigh language interpretations.
According to
her most of the health facilities are not disability friendly.
“We need to
see that people with disability enjoy their basic human rights when they go to
health facilities. We also should have medical staffs that are trained on sign
language,” she noted.
On her part,
Doris Ojiambo Collaboration of Women in Development project officer says the
program targets young girls aged between the ages of 11 to 17 and those between
the ages of 17 and 18.
She adds that
the program will be implemented in six sub counties.
At the same
time one of the medical staff who spoke on condition of anonymity said some of
the medical practitioners are trained on sigh language.
He however
notes that the number is still insufficient asking the government to train more
of the same.
“Some of us
are trained on sign language but the number is still very low,” he noted.
The project
dubbed Ending Double Tragedy is sponsored by Urgent action fund in
collaboration with Collaboration of Women in Development, Pwani SGBV Network
and the county government Mombasa.
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