Women’s rights violated the most since start of pandemic, says report

Women reported the most cases of human rights violations during Covid-19, according to a new report.

The Constitution and Reform Education Consortium (CRECO), an association of 22 civil societies that champion democracy, governance, legal and human rights, has revealed that 63 per cent of reported human rights abuse cases involved women while 37 per cent involved men.

This comes after the association conducted a nationwide survey  in 10  Covid-19 hotspot counties in Nairobi, Mombasa, Kiambu, Kajiado, Busia, Machakos, Nakuru, Migori, Uasin Gishu and Kilifi.

Mr Joshua Changwony, the acting executive secretary of CRECO, urged the government to use the consortium’s key findings on human rights violations during the Covid-19 containment period in Kenya to prioritise and safeguard human rights. 

“We have been busy discussing masks, sanitising and social distancing but no one is talking about human rights,” he said.

Tools

The baseline survey was done on a sample size of 210 respondents for seven days to provide a basis of targeted monitoring for human rights.

The consortium says it applied descriptive survey methodology to develop relationships between the data collected.

“This correlation was based on statistical deductions that informed the observations made. The purposive sampling1 used relied greatly on government advisory on the 10 Covid-19 hotspot counties mapped out for the exercise. ”

The number of respondents per county was informed by the number of Covid-19 cases as reported by the Ministry of Health in their daily Covid-19 case briefings in the month of August, 2020.

The target groups included grassroots communities (women, youth, people with disabilities and marginalised), public institutions responsible in administration and management of public affairs, maintaining law and order, enforcing various laws and adjudicating the open governance framework.

This was done between August and October.

Findings

The report indicates that 33 per cent of Kenyans have lost their jobs, police brutality is at 10 per  cent, domestic violence at 21 per  cent, and gender based violence (GBV) at 10 per cent, unplanned teenage pregnancies at 21 per cent, violence against police officers at two per cent while housing challenges are at three per cent.

Mr Changwony pointed out that only 70 per cent of Kenyans know about Covid-19 while 30 per cent have no idea how to access this critical information.

In terms of public participation 89 per cent of Kenyans indicated that they were not involved in budgetary planning and allocation for Covid-19 while only 11 per cent respondents said they had been involved in one way or another.

A majority of critical human rights cases emanated from Nakuru at 18 per cent, Nairobi at 15 per cent and Kilifi at 14 per cent.

Physical assault cases were at 40 per cent, sexual abuse at 23 per cent, unlawful detention and arbitrary arrest at nine per cent, extortion at eight per cent, forceful eviction at five per cent while other forms of incidents were at 15 per cent.

 Access to water and healthcare during Covid-19 remains a challenge for many Kenyans with piped water in counties at 48 per cent and boreholes at 33 per cent.

The report further reveals that 84 per cent of Kenyans are able to access healthcare services while 14 per cent are not. “

It has also emerged that 63 per cent of Kenyans have been stigmatised due to Covid-19 with the nature of stigmatisation showing that 28 per cent involved people who had tested positive for Covid-19.

Those who had traversed Covid-19 hotspots stood at 28 pc.

The least form of stigmatisation is the one associated with relatives of persons that were Covid-19 positive which is at 20 per cent.

Police

Mr Dennis Kioko, an official from Trocaire, a Catholic institution based in Nairobi  that focuses on Catholic social teachings which funded the survey, asked  police officers to follow the rule of law.

“Human rights cannot be an afterthought during a crisis, the best crisis responses protect them,” he said.

He asked donor communities to direct more funding towards human rights.

“Covid-19 is a social , economic and human rights crisis”.

Mrs Anne Makori, the chairperson of Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA), said that her institution has registered various incidents in which police officers use excessive force to enforce the curfew.

She revealed that IPOA has been documenting the use of excessive force by police for the purpose of holding accountable officers out to taint the image of the National Police Service (NPS).

“IPOA has made recommendations to the Director of Public Prosecutions to charge several officers with offences ranging from murder to issuance of unlawful orders,” she added.

Way forward

The consortium asked the Inspector-General of Police to  issue regular circulars, memos and compel law enforcement officers to operate within the law and refrain from violating human rights.

“Police officers should adhere to human rights approaches when enforcing Covid-19 guidelines and protocols,” Mr Changwony said.

There is a need for continuous sensitisation of the public on alternative dispute resolution & non-violent communication skills in solving disputes, increased public awareness on why constitutional violation of people’s rights to public participation in government processes is a critical human rights violation and may affect the quality of the services rendered to the people.

The Judiciary was asked to evaluate remote functions of the courts using human rights standards of acceptability, affordability, adaptability, non-discrimination, adequacy and quality.

It has also emerged that citizens need to be urgently trained on sex education with a view to protecting vulnerable members of the society (especially children) against sexual harassment, what to do in the event of sexual harassment, and abuse.

The civil society organisations believe that in supporting victims of sexual abuse, there is a need to increase opportunities for psychosocial support for victims.

“We take cognisance of the deliberate and great efforts being put in place by MoH in ensuring there is constant public awareness on the state of the Covid-19 pandemic  but there is a need for full disclosure to deter another ‘Covid-19 billionaires’ situation in Kenya,” the official statement read.

Mr Changwony asked ODM leader Raila Odinga to stop violating Covid-19 guidelines and protocols issued by President Uhuru Kenyatta that are to be enforced until the end of January 2021. “Mr Odinga held a BBI political rally yesterday in Kangare, Murang’a County; we demand that politicians prioritise safety of citizens over selfish political agenda.

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