Over 200 Gender Based Violence Seek Treatment at MTRH
Over 200 hundred victims of Gender-based Violence are reported to seek treatment at the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital care center every Month.
Speaking to the press Dr. Irene Simiyu a medical officer attached to the assault recovery center said there are increased cases among children below 17 years.
“As I am talking we receive over 200 cases of gender-based violence in our facility in which most cases are of children below the age of 17 years where we offer them counseling, provide legal aid and examine our patients and provide proper treatment to the victims,” said Dr. Simiyu.
She noted that they are concerned about the increased cases of sodomy among young boys who are visiting the recovery center.
Dr. Simiyu adds that there is a need for continuous public sensitization in order to end all forms of gender-based violence.
While flagging off a peaceful procession Friday to mark the 16 days of activism against Gender-based violence, Dr. Wycliff Koskei representing the CEO Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital, emphasized the need to end both sexual and gender-based violence meted out against women and girls.
“This campaign however does not exclude men and boys as more and more cases of sexual violence continue to affect all genders, we are saying we can prevent gender violence by embracing dialogue and other forms of dispute resolution at the family unity other than violence, “Said Dr. Koskei.
Dr.Morgeni Richard the North Rift Chairman of Kenya Obstetrician and Gynecological Society, highlighted the need for the community to give up cultural practices that demean women and girls and those that tend to normalize wife beating and all other forms of Violence in the name of outdated cultural practices.
“In some cultures, it is assumed to be a normal thing that women can be abused or treated as children, as a gynecological society we stand with women and men in this world that people can live in a world where they enjoy their rights to the fullest, “Dr. Richard said.
He further noted that gender-based violence is a serious form of incarceration and flouting of basic human rights, depriving individuals of their dignity.
Njiru Kibaru A legal practitioner with The Academic Model Providing Access to Healthcare (AMPATH), who supports the MTRH assault recovery care center with legal aid, insists all forms of sexual-based violence must be reported and perpetrators face the law,
“The Sexual offenses act does not allow for alternative dispute resolution on matters of sexual offenses, all these cases must reach the courts, parents, and Kenyans must report such cases always,” said Kibaru.
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