A Women Dialogue was conducted on Funzi Island on 6th November 2021 in Msambweni sub-county. 30 women were reached.

We engaged discussions with women from Funzi Island where they openly speak about the GBV and SRHR issues and find ways to collectively address these issues. 

The dialogue revealed the types of GBV prevalent in the area and their possible causes as follows;

Types of GBV

  • Rape
  • Teenage pregnancies
  • Early marriages
  • Prostitution
  • Sodomy of young boys
  • Fathers refusing to educate their girls

Causes of GBV

  • Drug abuse; many youths are involved in drugs usage
  • Unemployment
  • Peer pressure
  • Too much exposure to the internet
  • Lack of role models; the community is still not in a position to have many successful people from the area that the young generation can look up to. This has led to a continue cycle of same problems  
  • Poverty; poverty has forced many parents to acquire wealth through giving their daughter away for marriage and denied access to continue with their education.
  • Parents do not spend much time with their kids
  • High cases of divorce in the area push children to weird behavior due to lack of guidance from parents

Challenges faced by GBV victims

  • Threatening of victims
  • Poor response rate by authorities
  • Kangaroo courts resulting into victims not getting justice
  • Poverty
  • Ignorance of the law, people do not know their rights

The women in this area are calling for more dialogues and sensitization especially of the younger people. They agreed to be the voice of the voiceless and take up action against injustices 

Recommendations:

  • Call for more engagements and forums
  • Put up posters in the rural areas with hotlines for GBV victims