Organisations against gender-based violence during a past procession on Nkrumah Road in Mombasa. Photo/ the-star.co.ke
Healthcare Assistance Kenya (HAK) report shows that Mombasa is the leading county when it comes to gender based violence cases at the Coast. The survey, which was undertaken on diverse dates between 2007 and March 2017, indicates that 433 cases of gender violence have been reported in Mombasa County within the said period out of the 17,224 reported in the entire nation. Addressing different stakeholders during a media sensitization workshop on GBV in Mombasa on Tuesday, Executive Director Healthcare Assistance Kenya (HAK) Fanis Lisiagali said that they found it necessary to conduct awareness campaigns across the country due to the rising cases of gender based violence in the recent past. Lisiagali also said they have continued to receive many cases of gender based violence from different parts of the county in the past few years, citing the case of one Irene whose legs were chopped off under unclear circumstances. “According to the phone calls we receive at our organization, we realized Mombasa has a high rate of GBV and many are afraid of talking about this issue and it becomes hard to address the matter. The recent attack on Irene whose legs were chopped is just one of the example,” she said, as quoted by Baraka FM. Lisiagali further said that the organization has partnered with various groups including UN women, Ministry of Public Service, Youth and Gender Affairs to provide toll free line services that have over 20 lines offering services 24/7 including weekends and holidays with the aim of curbing the vice. Out of the 433 cases of violence in Mombasa 119 involved women, 123 girls, boys-64 and men 47. Taita Taveta County came second with 185 cases while Kilifi had 95 cases.Tana-River, Kwale and Lamu recorded 86, 81 and 73 cases respectively.