Source: The Star
OUR society is experiencing a metamorphosis. Kenyans are saying good riddance to oppressive cultures of wife battering and violence, which were traditionally fashionable, and unfortunately defined us. The barbaric act was, in some traditional setups, highly regarded as an undertaking that symbolised love from husbands, even when the actions resulted in serious bodily harms.

As the public continues to be more enlightened in standing up for its rights as enshrined in the constitution, while utilising the liberalised media, more people are now openly reporting cases of gender-based violence. Perpetrators of the heinous acts continue to receive widespread condemnation from the public that now seems to be speaking in unison. Sixtus Otieno, a campaigner against GBV, started the Margaret Wanzuu Foundation to sensitise men and boys on the dangers of the vice. His mother Margaret was killed by his father while engaging in one of his many episodes of battering, which had become synonymous with him.

On the fateful day that Margaret met her untimely death in 1997, she had resorted to self-defence as a way of ending the endless blows and punches meted on her by her husband of more than 30 years. "She was determined to end the beatings, and had earlier resorted to staying with us in Nairobi, as opposed to facing cruelty on daily basis at our rural home in Nyanza province," says Sixtus, trying hard to control tears from rolling down his cheeks.

Sixtus's father had come home in the afternoon, drunk and started picking quarrels with Margaret, who for a long time had resorted to remaining silent to avoid an imminent confrontation, "but he persisted and even reached out to her and started throwing punches at her." With a lot of pain and anguish, Sixtus narrated how his mother, in self defence, fought back and even overpowered her husband.

The old man, written all over his face, used his walking stick, that doubled up as a sword that he had been given as a send-off gift when he retired from the Kenya Prisons Service, to strike at Margaret. She bled for long hours before being attended to, and was later pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital. "Our road network is so bad, and this slowed down efforts by neighbours and well-wishers to accord her medical care," Sixtus said.

As a healing process for Sixtus and his siblings, they started the foundation in honour of their mother, and to fight negative forces that contribute to physical confrontation. He hopes to educate the public with the view that nobody should ever go through a similar ordeal as that of his family. Sixtus' organisation is based in Nyakach in Nyanza province.

The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Development, James Nyikal, while highlighting the need to strengthen and implement laws that will reduce gender-based violence, is calling on the public to address contributing factors to the menace that continue to create a rift between males and females. "Strengthening and implementing of GBV laws and policies and the promotion of gender equality comes at an appropriate time when we are implementing the constitutional provisions on gender," Nyikal says.

While a lot has been achieved in this struggle, a huge part of the society is yet to embrace positive co-existence. Statistics indicate that 47 per cent of women in Kenya who have ever been married reported to have experienced spates of domestic violence against them by their male partners. According to a 2009 Kenya Demographic and Health Survey, most of GBV is normally perpetrated by men, with a paltry three per cent of the crimes reported to have been initiated by women. This is an increase from the previous 26 in 2003, with 37 per cent of the respondents saying they suffered physical violence.

Nyanza and Western provinces are leading in the backward trend at 60 per cent compared to Nairobi's 30 per cent. However, Central Province women have in the recent past made headlines for battering their men, in what was highlighted as failure by the latter to fend for their families, while deeply drowning themselves in drinking stupors.

MenEngage Kenya Network, a civil society group that advocates for zero-rate violence against women, has rolled out programmes that it hopes will sensitise men to be proactive in denouncing GBV. The organisation hopes that its interventions, using men and boys, will bring sanity in the society, where dialogue will be embraced to replace physical confrontation as a means of problem solving. It is calling on men to team up with their female counterparts and build a cohesive society, devoid of violence. "This will enhance equal participation in nation building. We are also appealing to men, especially those in authority, to be proactive in addressing causes of violence, as well as sensitise people on the need to uphold the rule of law," says Fredrick Nyaga, from MenEngage.

The programme, which was recently launched in Kenya, focuses on building increased commitment and capacity to implement and document effective interventions, especially with boys and men, with the aim of influencing policies to achieve desirable results countrywide. Nyikal hails the constitution, which he says seeks to accord fairness and justice to all, and ensure the total eradication of GBV by entrenching affirmative action strategy for the achievement of gender equity and equality.

The first phase of the MenEngage programme, which will target the hardest hit region of Western Kenya, seeks to empower communities by sensitising them on legal interventions as well as capacity building. It seeks to add its voice to other efforts being undertaken to address atrocities meted out on women, which include physical violence in the form of female genital mutilation, sexual offenses, and emotional tortures. "The legal framework, as highlighted in the constitution as well as the gender laws, are positive developments towards the achievement of gender equality. They introduce a new set of values and principles on which the nation must be governed; these include patriotism, integrity, equity, equality and unity," Nyikal says.

While appealing for gender mainstreaming, Nyikal says the culture will promote human rights and enhance resource sharing. This, he says, will increase the impact of development, reduce hunger and accelerate the achievement of the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals. According to the Kenya Population and Housing Census, women form slightly over 50 per cent of the country's 40 million people; hence they cannot be ignored in the development agenda. For cohesion to be realised, they must be given a platform to freely express their opinions without fear of the consequences of their actions.

While scoffing at remote cultural practices that accelerate tensions, especially in marriage, Nyikal is challenging Kenyans to be proactive and desist from getting lured into them. He is particularly urging the youth to embrace the constitutional provision, which states that every adult has the right to marry a person of the opposite sex, based on the free consent of the parties.

Sixtus attributes most violent cases to the desire of appeasing selfish community expectations. He says that his dad was compelled to marry a second wife, because Margaret was from a different community, and thus only regarded as a mistress. "Let us shun these remote behaviours and allow our youth to make personal, informed decisions," Sixtus says. "There is need to go an extra mile and help men who are violent, some of them do not choose these lifestyles, it could be as a result of their upbringing."

He is calling on the state to invest in professional support programmes to assist such men, who he says go through hell, but do not know how to free themselves. "We are now reaching out to young men and boys to embrace equality, gender sensitivity, healing and reconciliation, with the view of helping them manage their angers, past injustices and other normal frustrations," Sixtus says.

Other initiatives to fight gender based violence are being conducted by NGOs such as Centre for Rights Education and Awareness [Creaw] which works to empower women and expand new frontiers for women rights. Last year it launched the second phase of GBV outreach project Nairobi's Kibera informal settlement. The three-year project is aimed at raising awareness on Sexual Offenses Act of 2006, with further emphasis of bringing on board men to eliminate the heinous act, which is highly practiced in slums, with numerous cases going unreported.

Speaking during the launch, which was conducted at the slum, to ensure that the community owns the project, Creaw executive chairperson, Ann Njogu, congratulated men who have come out to stop violence against women. As a motivation to drive home the agenda of eliminating all forms of gender-based violence, Creaw recognises and awards its champions to strengthen its campaign. Its other leaders include renowned family lawyer and Creaw board chairperson, Judy Thongori, and outgoing US ambassador's wife, Judy Gration.

The Kibera initiative seeks to address the plight of women, who for a long time have suffered silently at the hands of men's brutality. It further helps victims and survivors access services they may require to jump-start their lives; as well as combat GBV through changing attitudes and behaviour. The project builds on the Sexual Offences Act of 2006, which aims to increase community capacity to better prevent and respond to GBV. Creaw's operations have been boosted by donor funding to the tune of Sh48 million to oversee its operations.

In implementing this project, Creaw is working with government, civil society, religious leaders, and community members to address GBV. Through community outreach activities, the project has set a target to reach 200,000 people. Among them, over 2,000 women and children, who will be able to access a 'One-Stop Shop' service linking them to medical attention, legal support, counselling, and reasonable shelter. Males are being trained to undertake the critical role of serving as community champions in the prevention of GBV.

While appreciating the fact that the struggle to eliminate GBV is not limited to Kenya alone, other countries worldwide continue to battle the barbaric injustice. The nature of the crimes may be different, but they all form part of the oppression and marginalisation of a section of the society, thereby demeaning and lowering the status of the affected victims.

Two years ago, a South African activist, Mbuyiselo Botha, decided to take the then African National Congress League President, Julius Malema, to court for hate speech against women. Botha was confident from the onset that he had a valid case against Malema. He was determined to face the wrath of the aftermath of the case, depending on its outcome, and was prepared for the face off, despite the tough challenge ahead, having been in the gender activism movement for 15 years.

Botha is reported to have been forewarned by his long term colleagues and friends from the anti-apartheid struggle days that his move could turn suicidal, and greatly damage his career, as he was perceived to be challenging SA black rule. This, and many such sentiments have constantly formed the backlash and backward arguments that perpetrators and their sympathizers use to absolve themselves from blame, while killing the spirit to end GBV.

As for Botha, there was no turning back from what he had started, as he sought to seize the opportunity to add his voice to the many, which have over the years gone unheard. In spite of the heat that the case had generated, and the obvious ramifications of losing out on key ties that he had established during the struggle, Botha did not despair, as he soldiered on with the court case to its positive conclusion.

On March 15, 2010, the court ruled in Botha's favour, and found Malema guilty of hate speech, for insinuating that President Jacob Zuma's 2005 rape victim had 'enjoyed' the ordeal. Malema had been quoted saying that when a woman failed to enjoy it [sex], she would normally leave the man's home early in the morning, while the one who had a lovely time would dilly dally as she waited for the sun to come out. And that she would even have the guts to request for breakfast and money for taxi.

Botha's organisation has now embarked on a programme dubbed 'One Man Can', to sensitize men on the need to fight GBV to the bitter end. The goal of the initiative is to prove to men that they can uphold, respect and love their women. "Every individual has a role to play if GBV is to be rooted out of our society, by taking up leadership roles. This will enable us to carefully observe patterns of behaviour among men and women and address them," Nyaga says. 

• South Africa