Lobby to help GBV survivors get business loans
What you need to know:
- Initiative came about after organisation realised women became victims due to limited resources.
- Beneficiaries of the loans, which range between Sh3,000 and Sh500,000, will repay them after one and a half years.
Damaris Kazungu*, was forced to abandon her bedsitter to go live with a man after losing her job in one of the hotels following the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We had been dating but the situation forced me to stay with him after losing my job, that is when I saw his true colours,” Ms Kazungu told Nation on the sidelines of a training organised by the Centre for Rights Education and Awareness (Creaw-Kenya).
“It took time and courage to separate from him after he begun battering me for little or no reason. He is the type of man who becomes easily annoyed over small issues,” she said.
She recalled the day the man, whom she later left to stay with a friend, beat her up after she forgot to tell him that the cooking gas was about to get finished. Her neighbours had to intervene.
The increase of gender-based violence (GBV) cases during the pandemic period has prompted a non-governmental organisation to introduce a plan to help survivors of domestic violence in Mombasa, Kilifi and Nairobi counties cope with the harsh economic times occasioned by Covid-19.
Training GBV survivors
Creaw-Kenya Women Economic Empowerment Officer Moses Okelo said the initiative came about after the organisation realised that many women became victims due to limited resources at home, especially during the pandemic.
“The programme involves training GBV survivors on business management after which 100 of them will be selected to benefit from loans with small interest to start businesses to cushion them from the Covid-19 pandemic,” he said.
Speaking during a training on business management and entrepreneurship at Mnarani Resort in Kilifi, Mr Okelo said the initiative targets women who are victims of GBV.
“Under the financial inclusion programme, we provide the beneficiaries with financial assistance, business management training and entrepreneurship skills so that they are able to start up, grow and manage their own businesses, “he said.
Mr Okelo said the women are provided with capital to start businesses and, if already in business, help them grow their trades.
“We have Jasiri Fund, which targets women entrepreneurs who have gone through GBV to help them acquire loans that attract interest rates of 9.3 percent,” he said, adding: “We are targeting 100 women in Nairobi, Kilifi, and Mombasa. After training, we link them with the bank that will be disbursing the money.”
Subjected to torture
Mr Okelo added that they expect those who will have taken the loans, which range between Sh3,000 and Sh500,000, to repay them after one and a half years.
Speaking to the Nation, Ms Aisha Abdala*, a mother of three, said she was often subjected to torture by her husband during the pandemic, especially when there was no food in the house.
“I used to sell viazi karai (mashed potatoes) on the streets but he would always demand to be given the little money I obtained from the sales to go drink mnazi,” she said.
“He would then come back later in the evening to pick up a quarrel and beat me up together with the children,” she added.
Ms Abdala says getting money for food was a nightmare and her children were forced to sell cashew nuts and groundnuts to make ends meet.
“My wish is to get a loan of Sh500,000 to start a poultry business. I will also use what I have been taught about bookkeeping to ensure that financial records are kept well,” she said.
(*Editors note: Not their real names)
