Gender-based violence (GBV) cases in Kenya are more than the global average of 27 percent.

According to the Gender Coordinator at the Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) Kenya, Ms. Naima Ali, Kenya has 38 percent of GBV cases although many cases go unreported.

She said some cases are resolved at kangaroo courts or victims do not report them, fearing reprisal. 

She was speaking during the launch of the AKF Kenya Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Strategy in Mombasa. The strategy will run between 2025 and 2030.

The strategy is critical to the fight against rising cases of femicide in the country, and to ensure gender mainstreaming on food security, civil society, climate resilience, early childhood development, education, health and nutrition, work and enterprise, and at the institutional level.

“Most of the victims are subjected to GBV by people close or known to them. Such cases are handled at home. Others cases go unreported because of fear of victimization,” she noted.

Dream Achievers Youth Organisation representative, Mr. Enoch Opiyo, blamed cultural norms for violence against women and called on policies to address GBV and femicide cases.

“The cases of femicide can be partly attributed to cult practices. On the other hand, cultural practices and the use of kangaroo courts can be blamed for the many cases of GBV,” he said.

AKF Kenya’s civil society engagement programme coordinator, Mr. Daniel Mudibo, said they were encouraging women to take up leadership positions from the grassroots in an effort to empower communities.

“Some women decline to take up leadership positions at the grassroots because of home chores. These roles empower them in their communities,” he said.

He said that despite significant advancements to achieve gender equality, women continue to face systemic inequalities that hinder their social, economic, and political participation.

“Such disparities are unjust and detrimental to global development and prosperity,” states the strategy launched yesterday in a Mombasa hotel.

It roots in collaborative and multidimensional strategy, emphasising partnerships between governments, civil society organisations, the private sector, and communities to mobilise resources, expertise, and innovation to combat GBV.

“It is through these partnerships that we can build sustainable and scalable solutions to empower women and uplift entire communities,” it says.

Kenya has pieces of legislation to address GBV such as the Sexual Offences Act 2006, the Prevention Against Domestic Violence Act 2015, the Policy on Eradication of FGM 2019, and Prohibition of Female Genital Mutilation Act 2011, the National Policy on Gender and Development 2019.

A recent study on Kenya Women’s Empowerment Index (WEI), launched on August 10, shows that only 29 percent of women can participate equally and effectively in political, economic, and cultural life and that their involvement is dependent on household circumstances.