KMET

KMET has today 2^nd June 2022 opened a rescue center to host women and children fleeing violence.

We launched an established 4-bed capacity safe house, a holding center to support Survivors of SGBV ahead of the general elections

Following the stories on the recently done Compendium of voices of Survivors, there’s a major gap in rescue centers across the Country with Kisumu included.  The report from the Compendium also indicates that most Survivors of SGBV in Kisumu were violpost-electionst-elections violence, this would therefore mean that most Survivors are currently leaving in fear.

Dr. Monica Oguttu, the Executive Director of KMET said the shelter which has been named the Freedom House will offer temporary protection and assist women leaving situations of violence to maneuver the health, police, judicial and social service systems even as they choose how to move forward.

“Reopening of the Freedom House is based  on  the lessons KMET learnt during the Covid-19 pandemic where majority women endured abuse with nowhere to go. The limited shelters were full and some of us had to host survivor in our houses,” said Oguttu.

Civil Society Organizations in Kisumu County sounded alarm over the rise of violence against women and girls since the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic and called local authorities to set up a coordinated mechanism for response against domestic and sexual violence including operationalizing a government-run shelter that had been built but remains dormant more than two years later.

According to the Ministry of Health’s MOH 711 database, Kisumu County recorded 2136 cases of sexual and gender violence between July 2020 to June 2021 with many more going unreported due to the Covid -19 curfews and limited awareness of channels of reporting.

According to the 2014 Kenya Demographic and Health Survey, physical, sexual, and emotional violence are the most common forms of violence experienced by women in Kenya with Western Kenya and Nyanza region, as well as the capital Nairobi reporting the highest levels of physical and sexual abuse committed by spouses.

Dr. Oguttu added that the upcoming elections just like the previous ones may record a spike in violence against women hence the need for proper coordination among organizations that handle cases of violence against women.

“This Freedom House coordination will be done by a multisectoral team consisting of the department of gender, the police service, department of health, children’s department, and the private sector,” she explained.

The launch was graced by the County Commissioner representative, Mr. Rahul Musiambo, County Officials from the Gender department Our partners from Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, Survivors, and our partners on SGBV