Murang'a County Woman Representative Betty Maina has called for collective responsibility towards ending the menace that is gender-based violence (GBV) by the community taking preventive measures as opposed to only reacting afterwards.
Maina, who was speaking at Mung'etho in Maragua Ridge where she had gone to condole with the family of Grace Wanja, a GBV victim who died after she was burnt by her boyfriend earlier this month, noted that preventing GBV through a whole-of-society approach is better than reacting after it has happened.
She challenged religious leaders, national government administration officers (NGAOs), Community Health Promoters (CHP) and all other community leaders, who may be privy to cases of GBV to intervene before they turn fatal. "Many of the cases that turn out to be catastrophic escalate gradually; these community leaders could try to intervene as soon as they learn about such cases," Maina said. "A good number of these cases are not a singular offence; they are often between people who have been involved in violent domestic disputes before and they are known by those close to them and sometimes even the authorities," she added.
The MP noted that many of the perpetrators of GBV are known to the victims with a majority of them being people they are romantically involved with or even family members. "Of all the cases of GBV that are reported, only a small percentage involves strangers; most of the perpetrators are people well known to the victims," she said.
