A report by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has revealed that Nairobi and Uasin Gishu Counties recorded the highest number of Gender Based Violence cases before, during and after the August 9, 2022, general election.
According to the report released in Eldoret town on November 23, 2022, Nairobi was the leading county with 1,042 cases reported in July and 996 in September 2022.
Uasin Gishu had 686 gender-based violence cases documented in July and 586 in September.
UNFPA Uasin Gishu Coordinator Catherine Lagat, in an interview with Uasin Gishu News, said the report was based on data from the District Health Information Software (DHIS) and Health Assistant Kenya.
The report surveyed five counties that had been listed by UNFPA as hotspots during the election period alongside Kisumu, Nakuru, and Mombasa.
“The most pervasive forms of violence reported is sexual gender-based violence that is either people being sexually assaulted, defilement, and rape, that is what is mostly reported,” Lagat said.
Causes of high GBV cases
In July, Kisumu County recorded the lowest number of GBV cases at 251, followed by Mombasa (349) and Nakuru (529. Further, the UNFPA report shows that Mombasa had 306 GBV cases in September 2022, Kisumu (330) and Nakuru 547.
However, the Uasin Gishu UNFPA Coordinator says the data does not conclusively link the high gender-based violence cases in Nairobi and Uasin Gishu to the elections.
“The data that we have we cannot conclusively say that this GBV is a result of an election. There are so many other factors,” noted the UNFPA Uasin Gishu Coordinator.
Other factors that have been documented as contributing to GBV include culture where some of the chiefs end up resolving such matters.
“Culture plays a role because we have instances where chiefs have been reported solving GBV issues. Some other cultures in society also normalize GBV, especially against women like FGM,” noted Lagat.
