The Presidential Technical Working Group (TWG) on Gender-Based Violence (GBV) has raised concern over the retrogressive cultural practices fuelling the vice in Western Kenya.
The taskforce, which received submissions during a public participation forum in Kakamega, drew attention to reports that parents collude with perpetrators to obstruct justice for their own children who are survivors of defilement.
The force were also shocked to learn that some chiefs shield perpetrators by prioritizing societal, traditional and cultural dictates over the law. "Some chiefs in the region still cling to cultural tenets; despite the law being there for reference, they will think first in their cultural settings, before the law, and the perpetrators seem to have noticed those weak areas, so they will go ahead of the victims to just compromise the chiefs denying justice to survivors," said Linah Chebii Kilimo.
Kilimo, who was leading the Presidential Technical Working Group (TWG) on Gender-Based Violence (GBV) during a public participation forum in Kakamega, noted that defilement cases and femicide are still rampant yet they often go unreported due to fear, stigma and the risk of being ostracized by the community.
