Gender stakeholders to draft SGBV policy amid rising cases in Tana River

Gender stakeholders in Tana River County have picked pace in the development of a Sexual Gender-Based Violence policy amid a surge in cases.

The team, comprising civil society organisations, the media, and members of the county administration, seeks to develop a guiding legal framework for tackling the rising cases of SGBV.

According to Tana River Executive for Gender Abas Kunyo, while the rate of SGBV falls nationwide, the numbers in Tana River County continue to surge inspired by harmful traditions and cultural practices.

"Rape, domestic violence and defilement are taking the lead in the county followed by child marriage.You realise that in every ten children in the county, two are directly affected," he said.

Kunyo noted that at least 1,000 girls risk getting married every year, while less than 200 boys are forced to marry.

This, he noted, causes children psychological trauma since they are not mentally developed enough to handle marriage.

"The main aim of this policy is to ensure that we put in place the necessary structures to rescue the girls and boys that are being abused and the women and men whose rights are being violated by toxic cultural practices and traditions," he said.

TanAfrik Initiative Founder Mumina Mohammed noted that the policy will address gender-related challenges, giving residents local solutions that they can relate to and implement.

She said that the multi-sectoral group has since developed the first draft, which will be subjected to public participation to gather opinions that will inspire the final draft.

"We want the residents to share with us their opinions on how we can address the SGBV issues bedevilling them, the idea is to make this a people's policy and not just an institutional one," she said.

The exercise, which started on Tuesday, is a development of the Zero Draft and is funded by the European Union and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) through the TanAfrik Initiative.