The Kenya Gender-Based Violence Partnership

Gender-based violence (GBV)  is a pandemic perpetrated against women and children that results in physical, sexual or psycho-social harm. Click Here to download full brochure

• 83% of women and girls in Kenya report one or more episodes of physical abuse in childhood.
• 75% of Kenyan women report having suffered from gender-based domestic violence in the homestead.
  • The majority of Kenyan women believe it is acceptable for men to beat their spouses. 
• 46% report at least one incident of sexual abuse as a child.
• 36% of rural women report having experienced Female Genital Mutilation (FMG).
• 25% report losing their virginity by force.
  • The 2011 drought and subsequent famine is making gender-based violence more widespread in Kenya.

The Kenya Gender-Based Violence Partnership

The 2011 drought and subsequent famine in the Horn of Africa and Kenya, recently declared the worst in 60 years, resulted in an estimated 12.5 million people facing a severe food crisis and in urgent need of emergency assistance. While violence against women and children is often associated with war, economic distaster; natural disasters can bring equally severe risks. The impact of drought and subsequent poverty and displacement heightens vulnerability to gender based violence (GBV) among women and children. In particular, breakdown in physical and social systems for protection during crisis - like the recent drought and famine - increases vulnerability to sexual violence and exploitation.

Nazarene Compassionate Organization (NCO) of Kenya and the Servant Forge Foundation (SF), an affiliate organization of Strategic Applications International (SAI), in partnership with the UNICEF and International Rescue Committee (IRC) as part of our continued effort to address the famine are developing the Kenya Gender Based Violence Partnership to respond to the pandemic of gender-based violence (GBV) in East Africa.

The Kenya GBV Partnership will build its initiative around five pillars that focus on integrated service delivery and sustainable agriculture.  These five components focus on survivor counseling, strengthening families, and improving community support and response to GBV.

1. Training will address how community institutions (e.g. churches and schools) can support a no tolerance stance on GBV.
2. Counseling services will be provided to survivors of GBV.
3. A GBV Resource Center will deliver a package of integrated services  to include: crisis counseling, access to medical services, access to legal council, child support, and post crisis support for employment and survival.
4. Family Reunification seeks to reconnect families that have been torn apart by famine, war, and human migration.
5. The Sustainable Agriculture component will initially be focused on Lodwar where the local beneficiaries of famine relief funds have raised 340,000 ksh ($4,000) of a needed 680,000 ksh ($8,000) to purchase 50 acres of land to develop their own plots to raise maize, beans, and other crops. 

Your donation can help reclaim the lives of thousands of Turkana women and children.