By Betty Luke
Gender-Based violence (GBV) remains a major challenge in Isiolo county, exposing women, girls, and vulnerable groups at risk of abuse.
A recent baseline survey by Isiolo Gender Watch, an organisation that champions for the rights of women and girls in the region, shows over 41 percent of women aged 15-41 have experienced physical violence at some point in their lives.
In bid to counter this, the organization has moved to train community paralegals on protection, gender equality, and access to justice so as to enhance their skills because they are often the first contact of survivors of violence.
The paralegals have already been trained on documentation of the cases, referral pathways and how to offer psychosocial and legal support to the survivors to help reduce stigma.
The initiative is part of the organisation’s three-year ForumCiv funded initiative dubbed Wajibu Wetu, Jumuika, Sikika, and seeks to strengthen community structures that respond to the human rights violation.
IGW Executive Director Grace Lolim noted that empowering paralegals was critical to challenging harmful cultural practices and building trust within communities.
“The paralegals will be our ambassadors in helping us break barriers of silence, support survivors, and ensure the perpetrators are arrested and prosecuted,” she said.
The county has continually recorded persistent cases of domestic violence, early pregnancies and marriages, all aggravated by cultural beliefs that normalize abuse. Majority of the cases are unreported and a number settled locally, denying survivors justice.
The paralegals will also aid in offering safe spaces to the survivors with grassroot human rights defenders also lined up to benefit from the capacity building sessions.
