By Okong’o Oduya
Busia County, Kenya: Cases of Gender-Based Violence(GBV) have increased recently due to the stay-home order to cub COVID19.
It has emerged that Busia County is currently reporting a high number of rape cases, domestic violence among other offenses among married people.
According to Mary Makokha, Director of Rural Empowerment and Economic Program (REEP), stay at home order from the government as measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus is causing harm to families.
Makokha said that as a result of the order a lot of families have been affected economically resulting in abuse in marriages.
She said there are many cases reported in Busia where parents are fighting in front of their children, women beating up their husbands, and vise versa.
She confirmed that when coronavirus was pronounced as a pandemic in the country three children in Butula Sub- County were found abandoned by their parents in what is believed to have been caused by domestic conflict.
Saying this while donating masks and washing soap to boda boda operators and small businesswomen in Busia town, Mary said sex perpetrators are raping women and young girls during the curfew in what they believe the law won’t get to them.
According to her the last one-month Nambale and Butula Sub-counties reported 10 cases of domestic violence, while in Samia Sub- County a girl aged 12 was raped by a 32-year-old man.
“I have received numbers of reports in my office where men have beaten up their wives and children forcing them to spend nights in the cold. We have also received reports where women beat up their husbands because they fail to provide for their families after losing their jobs,” she said.
She urged police officers in Busia County to continue to maintain law and order adding that there is no need for law enforcers to wait for corona to end for them to take actions against the sex predators in the county.
“People are using the advantage of curfew, lack of court session, and corona pandemic to commit various crimes. I wish to call upon police officers this is the time for them to make sure law is maintained,” she noted.
She further called the government to involve nongovernmental organizations in fighting the disease saying that they live and interact with people at all levels in the society and leaving them out is unfair to the community.
“The fights against COVID19 require all of us. It is wise for the government to involve us too in fighting this disease. As NGOs, we understand these people more than any other person but if we are left out we may take longer than we need in fighting this pandemic.”
She accused a woman from Butula Sub- County for recruiting young girls to work as house helps in various towns in Kenya calling upon police to act on such persons.
“We also found out that there is a woman who is recruiting school going children for house help jobs. So far she has recruited 6 girls to Kisumu, Nairobi, and Machakos but we have managed to rescue one and arrested the woman and she is currently in remand at Bumala police station,” she said.
Jaclyn Constance a teacher at Lukonyi Boys primary school called upon parents to make sure that children remain indoor to stop further spread of coronavirus.
“It is unfortunate to see children roaming and playing all over, yet they are supposed to be at home. Yesterday I met small boys collecting scrap metals to sell. When schools were shut down we didn’t say children get time to engage in such activities. I call upon parents to make sure they know where their kids are, or else he/she will be infected with coronavirus and that will expose your entire family.”
The same sentiments were applauded by the nominated member of Busia county assembly Christine Florence Owuor.
Owuor raised her fears of an increase in early pregnancies among the school going children during this period.
According to Owuor the manner in which young girls and boys are conducting themselves in villages is raising a lot of questions.
