Jaslika Consulting held its inaugural webinar on Gender-Based Violence in Crisis Situations on the 22nd of April, 2020. The international panel of experts included Berhan Taye, a senior policy analyst at Access Now; Dr. Changu Mannathoko, the country managing partner at Joint Minds Consult in Botswana; Justice Martha Koome, a judge in the Kenyan Court of Appeal and the Chair of the National Council on the Administration of Justice (NCAJ) Special Task Force on Children Matters; and Megan O’Donnell, the assistant director of the gender programme and a senior policy analyst at the Center for Global Development in Washington D.C. The webinar was moderated by Jaslika’s director, Dr. Sheila P. Wamahiu, a leading expert in education and child rights in East Africa. Below are nine recommendations that they made on addressing GBV in crisis situations:

1. We need to consider violence both in the rapid response and in long term preparedness. 

Planning and resource mobilisation for gender-based violence has to be a part of government, sub-national and national rapid response efforts as a priority. As Justice Koome said, “Everybody is targeting the bigger picture of the pandemic but the kind of mobilization that we have seen to deal with covid as a pandemic, I submit that this is the kind of mobilization of efforts that should be put together to fight gender-based violence and violence against children.”

2. Targeted Economic Relief.

Due to the current economic stress caused by the ongoing pandemic, there’s an increase in coercive and transactional sex. To alleviate this stress and reduce cases of coercive and transactional sex, we need to ensure that women and girls are targeted during cash transfers and other social protection programmes. Also included here is targeted cash relief for persons with disabilities.

3. Maintaining Social Networks.

We know that this is difficult to do physically, with the ongoing social distancing and quarantine measures in place. However, it is recommended that people do this virtually. These networks help provide support and foster communication; people are able to gather virtually and even share information on where to report gender-based violence that they may be experiencing at home and outside the home. Things like chat bots, hotlines, and online support groups have been seen to be quite useful in this time.

4. Need for Data Protection and Privacy Policies.

There’s an increase in insecurity in cyberspace that is disproportionately affecting women and girls. This is partly due to, as Berhan pointed out that, women often have less on-line security training and are thus more prone to be hacked. It may also be attributable to the fact that cyber sexual and gender-based violence mimics what exists in the offline space and perpetuates it.

There needs to be policies in place that protect women and girls and the information that they share and access online. It needs to be clear, for example, what happens when someone uses a chatroom and shares information, how will it be shared/processed?

5. Flexible Funding from Donor Organizations.

Donors are mobilizing quickly to prioritize healthcare during the covid crisis. They are already supporting civil society organizations that are focused on women’s rights, and specifically focused on gender-based violence. There was a call  by panelists for donors not only to recognize women’s rights and response to gender-based violence as essential frontline services, but to allow for flexible funding to enable addressing the issues effectively. As Megan said,” We need to to allow these folks with their on the ground expertise to move as rapidly and as flexibly as possible to do what they need to do in their communities to address these issues and support survivors.”

6. Access to Justice.

With things moving to the digital space including court hearings during this pandemic, we need to be mindful of the existing digital divide. We need to be aware that levels of access to technology are not on a level field. Also as Justice Koome pointed out, “Cases of violence against children and domestic violence should be taken seriously at the police stations and we are urging NCAJ  [National Council on the Administration of Justice] to come up with a statement to say that domestic violence or any violence of any kind is unacceptable at this time to ensure that the families take responsibility of protecting  and safeguarding their children against violence.”

There is a need to ensure that children who are being rescued from violent homes   are being protected during this time. Unfortunately, cases are being reported of safe houses not opening up to rescued children due to fear of contamination. Justice Koome recommended that there should be a safe midway house where these children can be held for their safety and protection meanwhile.

7. Adequate Research on Issues of Education in Emergency Situations.

As clearly highlighted by Dr. Changu, there exist serious fault lines that hinder the effective implementation of policy and frameworks on school related gender-based violence. There needs to be more research on issues of Education in Emergency situations, that can be used to better inform policy and practice in schools and in the education systems. With adequate research, we can create informed policies that are more effective and applicable on the ground. 

8. Cross Sectoral Collaboration.

There needs to be more multisectoral collaboration in the creation of policy and frameworks, not just between governments at all levels and the private sector and NGOs but also with the children themselves. This helps us make more informed legislation and policies but also empowers the children in the process. 

“It is very important that when we are looking at schools and situations of education in emergency that we have a whole structural approach where we involve economic, social, education, health and legal expertise so that we address the whole system. You cannot address education by itself, you have to link it with other sectors,” Dr. Mannathoko.

9. GBV Training Programmes in Schools.

Dr. Mannathoko explained that we need to develop and support the expertise and experience  of all stakeholders in order to end school related gender-based violence (SRGBV). She highlighted that male and female teachers' confidence to address SRGBV can be strengthened by training them to reflect on their own values, beliefs and personal histories. We need to engage teachers in dialogue on curriculum materials and strategies to address discrimination and violence and training in interactive inclusive pedagogies.

“There are NO QUICK FIX Training Approaches to SRGBV.  It is important to create spaces for ongoing discussion and reflection among teachers, school management and other members of school communities as they attempt to change their practices,” Dr. Changu Mannathoko.

The Final Words

I would like to end with the words of Justice Koome,”Everybody is targeting the bigger picture of the pandemic but the kind of mobilization that we have seen to deal with the covid as a pandemic, I submit that this is the kind of mobilization of efforts that should be put together to fight gender-based violence and violence against children. I believe that if we went to the press, media to talk about the violence against children and gender-based violence the same way we are talking about covid, I believe it can be eliminated, at least a good percentage of it.”