Johannesburg – Victims of sexual and gender-based violence in the Kenyan capital Nairobi will be housed in safe houses and provided with guaranteed quality healthcare at subsidised rates if a proposed law is passed.
Should the Nairobi City County Sexual and Gender Based Violence Management and Control Bill be adopted, each of the wards will have at least one safe house, which will offer temporary stay to victims, provide healthcare and counselling services, as well as ensure access to an empowering environment and programmes appropriate to their individual developmental and therapeutic needs, the Standard reported on Tuesday.
“The county government shall ensure a sustained budget for the shelter programme through its annual budgetary allocations for purposes of prevention, control and management of sexual and gender based violence,” states the bill, which is currently in the second reading stage. In addition to protecting victims of violence, it also aims to provide measures for raising awareness, prevention and response to SGBV.
The setting up of a county forensic laboratory for the analysis of samples from SGBV victims is also in the offing, simultaneously ensuring that they can access healthcare without unnecessary impediments.