State enhances access to justice for domestic violence victims

Victims of Domestic Violence will now get swift access to justice with the rollout of the Protection Against Domestic Violence Rules.

The PADV Rules allow anyone who suspects that an act of domestic violence has been committed to report it to the police.

Principal Secretary for Gender and Affirmative Action, Anne Wang'ombe, affirmed government's commitment to prevent and address all forms of violence against citizens with a view to creating a just society where every citizen participates in the development agenda in safe spaces.

She was speaking during the capacity building workshop for the dissemination of the PADV Rules.

"The PADV rules are part of the government’s agenda of putting in place sound legal and policy framework to ensure easy access to justice. We aim at providing guidance on protection of domestic violence survivors and provision of their relief," the PS said.

Kenya developed and passed the PADV Act in 2015 and the Rules Committee of the Judiciary developed the PADV Rules in 2019.

The rules were then gazetted in 2020.

The objectives of the PADV Rules are to facilitate the operationalisation and effective implementation of the PADV Act.

The rules are also meant to provide guidance on the protection and provision of relief to domestic violence survivors.

Additionally, the rules are also meant to strengthen access to justice for survivors and their families and provide a policy and legal framework on domestic violence.

The secretary of the Judiciary Rules Committee, Moses Wanjala, led the dissemination workshop and stressed the importance of the PADV Rules in fixing the evils in the society.

"The PADV Rules will go a long way to ensure that an important section of our community that has been forgotten and suffering in silence is able to get justice," Wanjala said.

Once a domestic violence case has been reported through a written application, the duty bearers who include doctors, police officers or a relative can then make an application for a protection order on behalf of the victim with their consent.

The protection order is meant to protect the victim or their children for a duration deemed fit by the court.

"Through the PADV Act, the court can grant a temporary protection order at any time. If you are suffering over the weekend, you can approach the court to get a protection order to protect you before the application is severed to the oppressor," Wanjala said.

The PADV Rules define Domestic Violence as hurting or threatening to hurt someone with whom they are in a domestic relationship.

A domestic relationship exists where people are or were married, people who live in the same house, family members, people who are or were engaged, people who have a child together or have a close personal relationship with that person.