THE SILENT WITNESS
Sexual And Gender Based Violence ( SGBV )
By Dr . Johansen Oduor
Introduction
Sexual and Gender Based Violence ( SGBV ) is a form of violence in which there is violation of the right of a person based on the difference in gender between men and women and it comes about mainly due to unequal power relationships .
As had been observed , in many societies , the male gender has traditionally been dominant over female . As a result , women and girls have less power than men . This includes power over the autonomy of their bodies , economic power and power to make decisions . This dominance has led to men taking advantage of the situation and as a result , women have been the greatest victims in this form of human rights violation . This violence is experienced in both public and private spheres .
SGBV is the most common type of violence experienced all over the world with Kenya not an exception , and as mentioned above , most of the victims are women and girls . Sexual and genderbased violence can come in various forms and may be physical , emotional , mental or sexual .
The types of SGBV includes rape , sexual assault , physical assault , domestic violence ( including intimate partner violence ), forced prostitution , trafficking for sexual exploitation and forced marriages . There are also other forms which includes female genital mutilation , denial of resources / opportunities , forced widow inheritance and emotional abuse . The other can be deprivation of nutrition and denial of girl child education as has been seen in some regions in the world .
Being that SGBV emanates from the structural inequalities
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There is a strong relationship between areas in which there is a high prevalence of SGBV and poverty . Poverty hence plays a big challenge in management of these cases . between the male and female gender with women always being subordinated to men , there is persistence of women being taken advantage of . During conflicts , it has been observed that resolution lies in violence and since women are in their subordinate position , they have continuously borne the brunt of the violence .
Even though SGBV can be experienced at any stage of life , there have been reports of increased incidences during armed conflicts , with women and girls being raped in such occasions . This form of violence is also experienced at an increased incidence during political campaign periods .
Prevalence Of Sexual And Gender-Based Violence
According to 2013 statistics by the World Health Organisation , 35 % of women have experienced one form or another of physical or sexual intimate partner violence or non-partner sexual violence .
Violence studies from 86 countries across WHO regions of Africa , the Americas , Eastern Mediterranean , Europe , South- East Asia and the Western Pacific , show that up to 68 percent of women have experienced physical and / or sexual violence in their lifetime from an intimate partner .
The highest prevalence rates were found in central sub-Saharan Africa , with an estimated up to 66 percent of ever-partnered women having experienced physical and / or sexual violence by an intimate partner . Studies have also shown that in the world , one in every five women will experience rape / attempted rape in their lifetime .
As mentioned earlier , cases of SGBV increases during conflicts and this can be exemplified in data from the war in Bosnia- Herzegovina where it was reported that between 20,000 and 50,000 women were raped during the 1992-1995 war . Near home in Rwanda , during the 1994 genocide , it was reported that an estimated 250,000-500,000 women were raped .
In Kenya , statistics place the number of women who experience SGBV in their lifetime at 38 % with a regional variation . In western Kenya , the number is as high at 60 % ( World Health Organization , 2021 ; Kenya National Bureau of Statistics , 2015 ). Higher number of reported violence is also experienced in informal settlements .
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