Edited and transcribed by Dr. Sheila Wamahiu with Ernest Onguko.
The following transcript has been slightly modified for readability. The Q&A session lasted approximately 35 minutes, and covered only some of the questions posed by the attendees via live chat. Also included here are follow up questions that were asked each panelist immediately after their presentation.
Question, Irene Nyamu, University of Western Cape (to Megan O'Donnell): Did you get a sense of the structural violence that is reflected in the decision making processes? Like on testing; who should be tested and who should be provided with the PPE? Do you know if they have gender impacts - like in the UK and Italy they took a decision not to prioritise the aged. Did your research find anything to that effect?
Answer, Megan O'Donnell: Thank you Irene for that question. It’s an excellent one. It’s one of the pathways that I did not highlight [in my presentation] but I'm so glad you raised it and have an interest. I think it reflects a very important component of GBV and broader gender and equality, which of course is intersectionality and the fact that women and men are just not a homogenous group but we need to look at other demographic characteristics like age, like migrants status, like race and ethnicity, to understand who are the most desperate and the most vulnerable for most of these issues. Yes, one of the pathways that we stressed was virus specific violence. Of course there is a lot to unpack there and your question had already alluded to what is one of the examples of it. Where we have prioritised - sort of, in terms of the life and safety of some populations over others - those are choices that are being made by our health care systems that in a more prepared context may not have to be made. That in itself is a form of violence and discrimination. There are other things to be unpacked in terms of who is more vulnerable to this disease, its relationship to toxic masculinity as a social driver of the fact that men are more likely to die of this disease. Of course there is some research coming out of it that might be biological; there is research coming up to support that women’s immune system genetically speaking is a little bit stronger. But it does not help that men are more likely to engage in those poor coping strategies that I referenced earlier, like substance abuse, especially smoking, that leads to hypertension, increased risk of respiratory issues where we see this disease compounded with other health risks. So the need to look at the work of organisations like Promundo [a global consortium that engages boys and men to promote gender equality and prevent violence] to think about how we change this toxic masculinity, to convey that men are just in need of quality health care and self care so that is not a form of structural violence if you want to convey it that way. And the final dimension before I end addressing this question is that the virus itself can be used as a form of violence.
“ ... the virus itself can be used as a form of violence. We are a bit concerned that [...] perpetrators of abuse and violence are under sort of business as usual circumstances, unfortunately they now have another tool in their toolbox, where folks can now contract this disease and spread it in much the same way that we saw sexual partners of those with HIV being more likely to contract that disease.”
We are a bit concerned that especially, as perpetrators of abuse and violence are under sort of business as usual circumstances, unfortunately they now have another tool in their toolbox, where folks can now contract this disease and spread it in much the same way that we saw sexual partners of those with HIV being more likely to contract that disease. This can be used as a tool of violence itself and the need to recognise that in our response effort will be required.
Q2. Dr. Sheila Wamahiu: Children with disabilities - what is the situation of children with disability during this pandemic? Are there any kind of support, or even identification of these children?
A: Justice Martha Koome: A very critical question especially during this time, because children with disabilities are likely to be forgotten. One, because obviously children are vulnerable and they do not speak for themselves. What I have gathered is that the cash transfer that is being mobilised by the government towards mitigating the suffering brought about by the pandemic is targeting households with persons with disability and the chiefs have been told to go around and document persons with disability so that they can benefit from cash transfer. But these are children who need more than cash transfer; we have children with physical and mental disability and there is a lot of tension where their lives have been completely destabilised living in a very volatile environment. So there is stress and they even have no understanding of when life will be normal again - especially [those] children who go to school everyday or wherever they go they are no longer going. And we noticed that there is no psychosocial help or mechanisms put in place to address these issues, everyone is targeting the bigger picture of the pandemic but the kind of mobilisation we have seen today of the Covid-19 as a pandemic, I submit that these are the kinds of efforts that should be put together to fight gender-based violence and violence against children. I believe if we prioritise fighting against violence the way we have prioritised Covid-19, I think it will be a thing of the past. If we went to the Press and the media to talk about violence against children and GBV just like Covid, I believe it can be eliminated - at least a good percentage of it.
Q3. Achola Rosario, Abyssinian Ronin Productions, Nairobi Kenya: The most important component for health is changing the mindsets of each household. Are there any plans for radio, TV, social media programmes and e-commercials?
A. Berhan Taye: I can go on this one. It's extremely important now and the challenge now is the troll of misinformation and disinformation, what people are suggesting - passing on information that is fake including cures for Covid. The government should be providing - or rather health professionals should be providing - accurate access to information. One thing that is important is it can’t be just on WhatsApp because we have a majority of the population that does not have access to the Internet or even the money to pay for WhatsApp specifically as well. So using radio like I think Megan O'Donnell was talking - about radio being used in the Nigerian context. I think it is very important that we get to the people with whatever platforms that are mostly available to them. There should be no barrier to access information, so that's one thing I would say on that.
“It is very important that we get to the people with whatever platforms that are mostly available to them. There should be no barrier to access information”
A. Justice Martha Koome: Dr. Wamahiu, maybe I can also say something about information. I think this is a time of crisis when people have come together for the common good of the society and it has already been identified that the next biggest challenge we have that is close to this Covid, is gender violence which cuts across to children, people with disability and the elderly. Everyone is facing some form of violence one way or the other. So the question asked whether we have programmes on radio or TV to educate people to change their mindsets about being - you know, respectful to one another. I think this is a message that should go clear to the policy makers that violence within homes, intolerance of one another is unacceptable. I think if this message can find its way now to be mainstream within the Covid [response], I think disaster management strategies that have been put in place can work and we should explore that.
Q4. Linda Bonyo, Lawyers Hub, Nairobi, Kenya: Is it possible for quick policy responses rather than hope technology will help in this epidemic?
A. Dr Changu Mannathoko: I wanted to link my response in regard to policy, to quick policy responses and also on changing mindsets because that is what education should be about. This changing mindset is not just linked to health; it is also linked to social norms and gender stereotypes which endanger mutual respect. So in education and the mass media through campaigns we should really push the type of causes we already have, but can be sharpened focusing on child emotional intelligence, changing minds and on human rights and also programmes and training, which encourage boys and men, and girls and women to interact and live together as friends with mutual respect. And also for men and boys to see gender-based violence as also their problem, not the problem of women [alone]; and for women and girls to also communicate. So I think at a policy level, mass campaigns using radio and all other media, should be linked to what is happening in the education sector and what is happening in raising money - private-public partnership funds - to make all these things to happen. So it should be really kind of simultaneous action with all stakeholders involved.
Q5. Charles Kado, Africa Education International, Nairobi, Kenya: How could the cultural beliefs and myths that evolve around the pandemics but considered gender-based violence be handled? Any successes to benchmark with?
A. Megan O'Donnell: I would be happy to start here and then turn to others. This question is linked to the one Berhan just addressed of changing social norms in the households and the community through these platforms. And I feel, like in addition to - you know - I couldn't agree more with what she said about conveying accurate, scientific, evidence - based information, there are opportunities for sort of role model effects, in a sense, especially to younger populations, adolescents who are still learning how to engage with the opposite sex, with their peers, with their families, in a kind of productive and safe way. The two studies that stick out in my mind are one from Eliana la Ferrara and a group of researchers that looked at Telenovellas, which are the soap operas in Brazil - a pretty cool study which can build on and model elsewhere. It showed women’s preferences for what they wanted to do in terms of getting pregnant; how many children they wanted to have; what kind of sexual relationships they wanted to have; and how healthy and equal those were, changed. Because those were role models that were delivered to them through the TV for how women were empowered within their households and in their romantic relationships. Another example that is practical to my knowledge, though it has not been rigorously evaluated yet but gets a lot of attention and rightfully so was in your continent [Africa] - MTV Shuga [a TV drama series]. It targets teen populations and talks about healthy relationships, healthy sex, education and advancements sort off within the workforce. So these are models we can be looking at in Covid and much more broadly, obviously.
Q 6. Juliet Nyambura, African Institute of Children Studies (AICS), Nairobi, Kenya: My concern is with children in abusive situations within the family. Which community networks protect the children or report the cases on their behalf especially during a crisis?
A. Justice Martha Koome: I think this is a difficult question which was alluded to earlier in the presentation, I think by Megan O'Donnell, that during these difficult times families are isolated because of, you know, social distancing. So the lockdown means that a lot of abuse can go unreported. There has been a lot of work meant to empower children to enable them to be agents of themselves so that they can be able to report cases of violence against themselves. But in this situation now, whom do they report to? They are probably victims of violence by the caregivers who are supposed to be taking care of them. They have no access to telephone so that they can probably call an auntie or relative or a social worker or even the 911 number. So this is a real practical problem, Juliet. At the moment, many children are locked in very abusive situations. Even when they are rescued, the problem is compounded further. As I said, many of the government institutions are also on lockdown. They are not accepting people who are coming from outside because they want to protect those who are inside from any kind of contamination coming from outside. And we were actually told when the children who have been rescued are taken to these institutions, they are turned away and they are depending on the mercy of charitable institutions to take them and very few are willing to take these kinds of children. That is why we recommended there should be some kind of quarantine house, that one of the institutions should prepare for these cases so that when they are rescued they will be put there. But even the rescue exercise itself is challenged at this minute. I guess more education is needed so that children can learn how to report these cases for themselves, because now I don't think the social workers are allowed to make home visits and observe because of the lockdown.
“The lockdown means that a lot of abuse can go unreported. There has been a lot of work meant to empower children to enable them to be agents of themselves so that they can be able to report cases of violence against themselves. But in this situation now, whom do they report to? They are probably victims of violence by the caregivers who are supposed to be taking care of them.”
Q7: Samuel Mukundi, Jaslika, Nyeri,Kenya: What considerations are given to children when pushing parents to quarantine and to jail over Covid-19?
A. Justice Martha Koome: This now comes under a child in need of care and protection if a parent had been pushed to quarantine the people pushing the parent in quarantine should immediately report to a social worker or the children officer that there are children in need of protection so that the children can be put under care of a guardian or the government can take responsibility of taking care of the them, like taking them maybe to an institution. And this is why, maybe, there has been a huge outcry about the indiscriminate arrest of people who are contravening the regulations and taking them to quarantine centres without caring if they are nursing mothers, or if they have children. I think that debate has arrived in Kenya and in all cases involving children their best interest should be taken care of and mechanisms should be put in place if somebody has young children, one of the things they should consider is, should this person be quarantined within a place where the children will not be stressed, where they can be assured that the person and themselves are going to be okay? So I think there are social workers working with the Covid-19 emergency teams for the support of the children. But this is a very important question, Samuel, raised about children.
Q8. Samuel Munyuwinyi, African Institute of Children Studies (AICS), Nairobi: Are there models on what works in response to gender-based violence at community level considering that social workers in many countries are not front line workers?
A. Dr Changu Mannathoko: Yes, I think also my other colleagues will be able to give examples. I think this gives me the opportunity to talk about schools, not only as centres of learning but also as protective environments. Places like Swaziland, Mozambique and even Kenya where NGOs, UN agencies and governments don't just make a school a place for learning they make sure that there is water and sanitization; there is school feeding; and that issues of psychosocial support are addressed. And those children in targeted households who are orphans and who are in school, social welfare should be aware of them. And then there are also childlines in places like Botswana, South Africa or Swaziland where girls can pick up the phone and report abuse. Also those types of initiatives have been shown to work. The challenge is how to scale them so that they are in more communities. You will find that they are only in a city or a small village but how do you scale them so that more of these young people can benefit from these types of initiatives?
Q9. Godisang Mookodi, Botswana: The University of Botwana has a sexual harassment policy which is not being being implemented. How can alliances between staff and student gender activists make a difference?
A. Megan O'Donnell: Yes, where I sit in the USA and also, more broadly globally, the #MeToo movement, there are a lot of conversations around social activism and community organising by having this issue in the workplace, especially including universities. And students, it’s their work to shed light on sexual harassment in those contexts. So I think one of the things is to ensure we keep pace with global momentum; while all eyes are on the global health crisis there is a huge risk that issues like climate change, gender equality, sexual harassment where we were starting to get some traction [taking a back seat]. Taking a step back to health space, I think it is a very interesting question to all of us who work around these issues day - to - day to ensure that we are not only considering gender-based violence specific to Covid but how do we keep up the progress? More broadly, I do not have any particular innovative insights on that front but I think it's worth emphasising that this is an issue, as Judge Koome was emphasising, that it needs to be emphasised going forward.
Q10. Jaya Nair, Murdoch University, Perth Australia/Jaslika: What is the significance of women community groups who can support each other and through those groups, education, technical and legal support can be provided to women and children in crisis?
A. Dr Changu Mannathoko: Women community groups in Eastern and Southern Africa are really doing fantastic work when it comes to gender-based violence but they do need a lot of support because those of us who work with NGOs, we are very much aware that the fund and support for NGOs has really been going down over the past ten years. For instance, here in Botswana and South Africa, women’s NGOs have established that since the lockdown for the last 3 weeks to a month, the cases of gender-based violence have doubled. So there has been a demand, even from the governments, for these organisations to support [the efforts against GBV]. Like here in Botswana, we have this organisation, which made a huge outcry for support through social media and radio and got a safe house for women and children who needed it. But then when there is a lockdown, how do you provide food, utensils and all that? So there has been that type for a call, but there is also a challenge: How do you get those things? And then the government has to also work with this type of women groups. And some of these women's groups do fantastic research but we need to find a way of providing funds for them to invest it on more long term research which can really help us to trace the impact and also to address the type of appropriate interventions.
“And some of these women’s groups do fantastic research but we need to find a way of providing funds for them to invest it on more long term research which can really help us to trace the impact and also to address the type of appropriate interventions.”
Q11: Conrad Watola: In the light of the current situation of the Covid-19, how has technology been used so far in obtaining relevant information to act on?
A. Berhan Taye: That's definitely a very broad question but I will focus it on contact tracing Apps and some of the tools that governments and civil society organisations have been using. So we have seen whether here in Kenya - not necessarily trying to do contract tracing but rather for public service vehicles to ask them to install Apps to technically monitor who comes on to public vehicles. Or in South Korea and other places, we have seen governments using contact tracing apps to actually see who has been in contact and to actually isolate people. And the other thing that we have seen in other places and also in Kenya, where we have seen governments using mobile surveillance to actually see if those in quarantine are breaking out of quarantine and also for those told to self isolate, if they are self isolating. So in some ways it has been useful. But some of the things that we have seen as a digitalised society is the misuse of that information, the lack of consent and lack of data privacy and protections that are supposed to be put in place. And we have also seen surveillance companies like the NSO Group in Israel, for instance being asked to come in and assist with these things while these companies have been implicated in many human rights violations. We have also seen telecom companies, for instance, readily sharing data with the governments so some of the things we are worried about here at this juncture is really rolling back some of the privacy issues and privacy violations that are happening within many countries, whether you look at South Africa or other places. So, yes, technology has been used and it's good but we should put privacy measures in place and go ahead and use some of these things that governments are using but data protection should definitely be put in place, data protection commissioner should be engaged and the third party or the public-private partnerships should be really stringent so that they do not violate people’s rights. Yes because also health data is also extremely sensitive and how that information is being shared is also really criticall, so we have had that engagement where technology is really good but we haven’t really asked the right questions as civil society or as government to these companies. Like we have seen, Apple and Google are going to be launching their own Apps that are going to help governments monitor individuals. So what does that mean when we are talking about fundamental human rights? the privacy of individuals? And so these are some of the questions we are asking and as always it always affects folks that are marginalised, vulnerable like women when compared to other parts of the population.
Q12. Alice Omariba: What can be done in future to reduce the risks for girls in times of crisis?
A. Megan O'Donnell: Very quickly there is one programme that comes to mind that we saw a lot of promising results from. It's the Empowerment and Livelihood for Adolescents Programme out of Sierra Leone that happened to be implemented and rigorously evaluated during the ebola outbreak. It showed, consistent with research that Changu and others have referenced, that these safe spaces for girls especially, make a huge difference. So it is this multifaceted and holistic approach, making sure that girls have one another and having peers and sort of mentour advisors as support networks, they are able to spend their time in productive ways gaining skills, undertaking productive activities that will eventually lead to livelihoods and income generation. So there is this useful way of spending time as opposed to being in the context I referenced where transactional coerced sex, more times spent with the older men which is present. So that is one programme to turn to as an example.
A. Justice Martha Koome: I was going to speak about almost the same but when we are dealing with a crisis, it is important to mainstream programmes that are targeting child protection within the crisis and gender-based violence as categories so that as we deal with the crisis there is an aspect of the programmes or systems that have been put in place that addresses the unique problems of gender-based violence, especially looking at children, persons with disability so that their problems are also taken into account. That's what I would say that this time we are just dealing with the crisis - the Covid pandemic and nothing more. So we now need to learn that there is this category - vulnerable groups - that need special attention and programmes that are targeted to the protection of vulnerable groups even as we deal with the Covid.
Q13. Dr. Purity Nthiga, Jaslika/Kenyatta University, Nairobi,Kenya: How does one address the challenge of denial of access to the target population in education institutions to collect research data on GBV.
A. Dr. Changu Mannathoko: Thank you for that important question. So denial of access - it also depends on where access is being denied. My assumption is that it is being denied at the community level when somebody is going to collect the actual data. But it's not really a question of denial, but it's because the issues are so private and are sensitive as sexual- based violence, you find that the survivor does not definitely want to make it public. And that's why the methods of collecting data have to really be gender-responsive and have to be ethical so that the person who is a survivor can be sure that confidentiality will be kept because what you are looking for when you are researching is data; you are not looking to showcase an individual. So you're looking for data to make use of it to generalise in terms of what type of interventions are more appropriate or what interventions are working. So, I think it's the responsibility of the researcher to ensure that the person who is a survivor and is being researched on has the trust and confidence in the researcher. That is why in some situations when you are conducting research, it is secretive with that one individual. In other situations, you have a peer group of girls and then they speak freely and then one or two who are abused will come up with the reality as it is without identifying any individual. So there are a variety of ways to get data without exposing a survivor.
Q14. Njahira Karanja, Nairobi: Can we implement a public register of all sexual offenders especially those who harass children as a preventive social protection measure?
A. Justice Martha Koome: Yes, in Kenya we have the Sexual Offenses Act and we have a provision to have and maintain a sexual offenders’ register. Everybody who has been convicted of a sexual offenses act is in that register. The problem is that it is kept by the Registrar of the Judiciary, I don't think it is a public document where you can go to a website and access it. Some work is being done around it to improve on the data within that public register to make sure that all cases [are recorded], because we are not even sure that all the offenders have been captured in that register. So there is a clean up exercise going on and some rules and regulations on how it can be accessed have to be finalized. There is a committee working on it. But there is a register. I believe in many countries they have a register of dangerous sexual offenders who should be captured and known wherever they go.
Offline Questions
Due to time constraints, it was not possible for the Panelists to respond to all the questions asked by the attendees at the Webinar. We forwarded these questions to the Panelists, and here are their responses.
Questions for Megan O’Donnell
Q1. Irene Nyamu, University of Western Cape/Jaslika: This question is linked to pathway 2.7 (reference is to paper co-authored by Megan “Pandemics and Violence against Women and Children”) It should be of particular concern that safe houses and shelters are not prioritised as essential services and they cannot work remotely except to offer tops and guidelines. Should we not also include a more specific policy response around advocacy for gender- responsive analysis of risk by policy-makers so that when decisions are made on essential services support for GBV survivors are included. So far conversation has expired in this aspect.
A: Yes, gender analysis should be required to inform pandemic preparedness efforts going forward to ensure that the increased risk of violence associated with pandemics, as well as other gendered consequences, are properly considered and addressed. Gender equality and feminist advocacy groups (e.g., the Coalition for Women’s Economic Empowerment and Equality) are calling for this policy measure in light of Covid-19.
Q2. Conrad Watola, Jaslika, Nairobi: What lessons can we learn from previous pandemics, especially the Spanish Flu of 1918 and its effects in SGBV?
A: I am not personally aware of research done on SGBV in the Spanish Flu context, but for lessons from other pandemic contexts, see our working paper here: https://www.cgdev.org/publication/pandemics-and-violence-against-women-and-children
Q3. Leila Kangogo, Breaking Through the Glass, Nairobi: Could we have the link to the blog to read more on this?
A: https://www.cgdev.org/blog/gender-lens-covid-19-pandemics-and-violence-against-women-and-children
Q4. Edward Bwenjye, UNICEF, Iraq: When you take a close look at the Covid-19 lockdown, one issue that clearly stands out especially among the already poor peri-urban families is the looming family financial crisis that is likely to boost suicide rates among the main bread-earners of families. The family bread earners might experience greater degrees of shame in the face of unemployment. Secondly stress among families is likely to induce violence as already seen in some parts of African cities. Children who live in stressed and violent families are more likely to be teen delinquents – some will take it out to others, or get into fights and others even assault their partners, homicides, depression and distress. What therefore should the world leaders be doing at this time to help families avert this potential post-Covid-19 outbreak distress? Should governments start investing in creating more hope, advocating for no job cuts, subsidies for already poverty stricken peri-urban families? (Peri-urban are slums).
A: Policy responses will need to be multi-faceted and ambitious to address the full range of social and economic impacts COVID-19 has and will continue to impose. One key ingredient is the injection of cash into vulnerable households, to ensure that they can continue to access food and meet other basic needs in light of lost income, and mitigate risks of poverty-induced stress leading to violence. Increased government cash transfers, facilitated through new agreements with donor institutions, should be prioritized and accompanied by additional longer-term support for livelihoods.
Q5. Nyakwea Wai, The Dunstan Wai Memorial Charitable Foundation, Virginia, USA: Widespread lockdown in mitigation of COVID-19 has been shown to precipitate cabin fever and other psychological distress among the general population. In the absence of telemedicine, what services are available to families dealing with the stress of enforced and prolonged closeness caused by the pandemic, before they result to violence?
A: Available services vary widely by context, but on the whole, services currently in place do not appear sufficient. Where telemedicine is unavailable due to limited connectivity or computer/mobile phone ownership, counselors, women’s rights groups, education service providers, and others focused on psychological distress inciting violence are considering radio program messaging and in-person check-ins (though abiding by social distance guidelines).
Questions for Justice Martha Koome
Q1. Edward Bwenjye, UNICEF Iraq: One of the critical issues affecting some children particularly those living in peripheral areas of cities in Uganda is child sacrifice. Children have become a commodity of exchange and child sacrifice is more than a religious or cultural issue, it has become a commercial business. Witch doctors have multiple reasons for child sacrifice like health, good fortune, and to ward off evil spirits. The desire for instant wealth on the part of the client and greed on the part of the witchdoctor has created a ready market for children to be bought and sold at a price. Sometimes, some of these children are actually sold by parents or relatively known to the children. In your experience, what would be the practical measures that can be put in place to reverse this violence against boys and girls.
A: This is a gross violation of the children’s right; it is a criminal activity to sacrifice a child. It constitutes an offence called murder which is a capital offence that can attract even a death sentence or life imprisonment. To sell a child is trafficking which is equally a serious offence. The children’s rights to life, to protection and provision as well as education and free from violence is provided in the Constitution and the Children Act. There are also anti-human trafficking laws as well as the criminal laws. What we need is awareness creation of these rights, ensure reporting, and follow up with the police until those crimes are rooted out of the society.
Q2. Conrad Watola, Jaslika, Kajiado: In light of the curfew and the many more hours spent with relatives/family members how do we manage this situation when conflict leading to SGBV is likely to arise?
A: Cases of child abuse must be reported. It is an offence not to report a case involving child abuse. The problem of the lockdown is that the child has no access to a teacher or a friend or a person in authority. This is why we are advocating for messages on the media to empower children to be agents of their own security by providing them with emergency numbers where they can call. Once reported we have proposed as the NCAJ Special Task force on Children that the abuser should be detained in custody until the case is heard.
Q3. Dr. Purity Nthiga, Kenyatta University/Jaslika, Nairobi: Justice what is the system doing to raise awareness on GBV and how to keep safe. The messages on the media are on how to keep safe from Covid 19?
A: I submit that the same efforts being applied to keep safe from COVID-19 is applicable to GBV in my opinion. GBV to me is also a pandemic and until such concerted efforts as are put in place to address the Covid-19 are employed in the same measure, we are far from dealing with the vice. I have just this week encountered 20 cases of defilement. These are children who are defiled by someone close to them, not so much a stranger.
Q4. Dr Alice Omariba, Nairobi: Thank you Justice Martha, what measures/strategies put in place to ensure that the cash transfers reach the beneficiaries i.e normal children or children living with disabilities?
A: The Ministry of Labour and Social Protection is in charge of cash transfers to the elderly, and vulnerable groups including children with disability who are the most vulnerable. There is a national budget for this item which is also donor supported. I am aware the Ministry has an elaborate system which was developed with UNICEF to ensure the cash transfers reach the intended beneficiaries. The other day, the Minister was on NTV giving an account of how they are dealing with cash transfers during this COVID-19 Pandemic. I also know the chiefs and social workers have been documenting vulnerable groups who are targeted for assistance by the National COVID-19 Emergency Response Team which is driven by the Private Sector. The key challenge is monitoring whether they are receiving food. There are also a myriad of other challenges facing children with disabilities as they have no social support, especially those who were going to special schools or attending physiotherapy etc.
Q5. Jeremy Mathangani: There seems to be a big disconnect between law enforcers and gender-related violence. Justice Martha Koome, how can this be addressed through capacity development in police service, and community level?
A: I agree and many NGOs have done a lot of work to build the capacity of the police and communities through training and other interventions. There is still a lot to be done to empower the citizenry to stand up for their own rights, to report cases of GBV not to condone it and the Police to record, investigate and charge the perpetrators. I wish the issue of GBV can escalate to national level as a pandemic that requires the same preparedness as COVID-19. It appears to me unless GBV is taken seriously by all, including ordinary Kenyans, we have a long way to go to bridge the gap.
Q6. Conrad Watola, Jaslika: In light of the curfew and the many more hours spent with relatives/family members how do we manage this situation when conflict leading to SGBV is likely to arise?
A: People need to remind themselves that SGBV is a crime, a very serious one for that matter because the least sentence under the Sexual Offences Act is 10 years which is for Sexual Harassment. Otherwise defilement attracts life sentence and rape if aggravated. Secondly, people living together must always cultivate a culture of respect for one another and learn to communicate, mediate and negotiate.
Q7. Dr Alice Omariba, Kenya: Thank you Justice Koome for that parting shot that courts should prioritize GBV. Women out here are suffering and have none to turn to for help. Sensitization should also be done on the way forward when faced with GBV in homes and communities.
A: I agree, and the message is clear: GBV is unacceptable; it is a human rights violation; it is an offence; it is punishable; it breaks families; it causes humiliation and trauma on the victims. There are also secondary victims like children who witness GBV and suffer lifelong trauma.
Q8. Irene Nyamu, University of Cape Town/Jaslika: I think we often underestimate the power of schooling as a critical protective factor against GBV for children - especially girls.
A: I agree, keeping girls in school for many years has proved to bear very positive results. I am a beneficiary and can attest to the power of staying in school for many years otherwise a girl who is not in school is likely to become a candidate for early pregnancy, marriage and God knows what else.
Q9. Seima Mahmud, Pakistan: Very informative. I think what we have in common is lack of political will to implement laws related to the protection of the most vulnerable sections of society.
A: I agree Seima, if I were President (perhaps in my next life), I would declare GBV a pandemic; and put a National Emergency Response Committee at the top, in the county and at every administrative level; prepare the police and equip them; educate the public on national media as is happening; and ensure there is capacity within the Judiciary to deal with the perpetrators.
Q10. Marygorety Akinyi, Kenya: Creating childlines is a bright idea but unfortunately our education system is not learner centred but emphasis is on exams. Such initiative is not embraced. Nobody thinks of the wellbeing of children.
A: Children due to their age of minority are voiceless. They do not vote and therefore their issues are always not given priority. For instance, there is a forum called the Children Assembly, where children are supposed to voice their views but it is not effective because even their views expressed in those forums are never acted on. It is technocrats in the Ministry of Education who make decisions about them.
Questions for Dr Changu Mannathoko
Q1. Dr Anna Obura, Kenya: When I read of the many well thought out programmes in South Africa to reduce GBV in mixed schools, I wonder why Kenya is moving so slowly (or not at all?) in this domain. Why is this, I wonder, yet we have been addressing GBV since the 1990s ? I hear a multitude of ‘counsellors’, ‘ mentors’ and other probably untrained (mainly) women going to TALK TO and to LECTURE girls (forgetting the boys) in schools. And it’s a one-off event and they leave….. I cannot think of a more time-wasting exercise which could in fact be harmful in the sense that young people get injured by uninformed talking-adults who never listen and who never follow-up with action.
Result: Youth then listens less and less to ever-talking-adults.
A: Importance of GBV Training Programmes in Schools: Good to hear from you Dr Obura. It is important that GBV training programmes be provided for male and female school management, teachers and learners in schools. To end school related gender based violence (SRGBV) what is required is to develop and support the expertise and experience of all stakeholders. Male and female teachers’ confidence to address SRGBV can be strengthened by training them to reflect on their own values, beliefs and personal histories. Engaging 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.
Q2. Where are the programmes to educate the HEADS and ALL THE STAFF in schools, the teachers, support staff, etc. ?
A: There are examples of evidence based projects scattered around the world that educate school heads, teachers ,support staff, communities, civil society organizations, religious leaders, local government and families on SRGBV. These are short-term projects/initiatives limited to a select sample of schools. These initiatives are supported by UN agencies, NGOs, and other funders together with national governments.
For example: Backchat (MacLaughlin et.al 2015) was a three year action research initiative across 16 primary schools that brought into dialogue teachers, learners and other adult stakeholders from six countries across Africa (Botswana, Kenya, Ghana, South Africa, Swaziland and Tanzania). All these stakeholders across six African countries engaged in dialogue on developing Sex and Relationships Education Curriculum in schools. Whilst external facilitation was important in constructing these participatory spaces, it was the engagement of school leadership, teachers, learners and community members that made them catalysts for change over the three years period.
For example: Whole school approaches such as child friendly schools and safe schools (Jenny Parkes et.al, 2016) that address policy development, leadership, curriculum planning school ethos, learner’s voice and partnerships with parents and local communities are addressing SRGBV. These whole school approaches embed SRGBV issues within a broader programme of educational support, clear norms, values and boundaries related to unsafe behaviour among male and female students, teachers and adults in the community. Learners in these schools demonstrated more willingness to protect their friends from risky behaviours.
Q3. But where are the trained youth leaders going to schools to LISTEN TO the girls and the boys?
A: Like I have already stated, there are no quick fixes to training. Throughout sub-Saharan Africa, there is inadequate training of trainers on SRGBV including training of youth leaders to provide them with the know-how to support schools. Nevertheless, there are evidence-based examples of initiatives where trained youth leaders provide effective support on SRGBV.
Q4. Do you think that programmes to reduce GB violence/harassment in schools have to start with the community, move to school staff and END UP with school children, once the ground is prepared.
A: Research evidence shows that it is those programmes that have a whole school/ safe schools approaches that are the most effective ( Jenny Parkes et.al, 2016). The reason is that this is a bottom up approach that involves all stakeholders participation simultaneously, that is , school management, teachers, learners, government sectors such as social welfare, police, water & sanitation and justice department. Also refer to the first answer above.
Q5. Awiti Omondi, Nairobi: How may we deal w/ toxic masculinity and its effect on GBV focusing on how it affects boys as they grow up either as victims / witnesses of violence and the resultant effect of them being perpetrators?
A: I concur with you Awiti, that toxic masculinity is at the centre of GBV. That is, to end GBV and gender discrimination it is essential to address toxic masculinity. Society has to stop accepting and normalizing cultural norms that are linked with harm to society and harm to boys and men themselves. Often in our patriarchal societies, the socialization of boys normalises violence. This is demonstrated in statements like” boys don’t cry” and “boys will be boys'' with regard to bullying, aggression and harassment. This emotional repression of boys and men is reflected in problems such as depression, increased stress and substance abuse.
Yes, there are several interventions that can be put in practice to promote positive masculinity by addressing the impact of toxic masculinity in escalating GBV. Positive masculinity promotes boys and men to support others, share experiences or master skills that make a positive impact on the world. Interventions that include:
Curricula, pedagogy and educators that factor in masculinity and consider the roles that schools can play in shaping masculinity and gendered patterns of power. Modeling and teaching diverse, complex masculinities including girls and boys learning about sexist language, behaviour and GBV. Together with continuing to include girls and women’s voices and achievements in the curriculum and classroom. All these interventions are aimed at bringing about healthier and more nuanced comprehension of femininity and masculinity to foster equitable relationships and friendships between girls and boys. As a result, boys and men participating in these initiatives will develop a sense of empowerment and self worth in traditional mascuine traits such as commitment to work, pride in excelling in sports and providing for one's family.
Support the development and strengthening of mens’ organizations that educate boys and men on GBV and gender equality. In places like South Africa these men’s organizations send effective messages against GBV in both society and schools. It is vital that boys and men join hands together with girls and women to educate boys and men to recognise and challenge toxic masculinity.
I believe that bringing in boys and men as allies in the fight against SRGBV is the most important and transformative change that education can play in this era of COVID-19 and beyond.
Q6. Karuru Wamahiu, Murdoch University Australia/Jaslika (Calling in from Japan): Does GBV against school-age girls manifest itself in the same way during pandemics and conflict situations? What’s the difference?
A: Karuru yes, GBV manifests differently for girls during pandemics as compared to conflict situations. In conflict situations schools and learning centres in refugee camps are a safe haven for girls. Schools are the spaces where stakeholders provide water, sanitation, food , learning and protection. Schools can become places for the protection from transactional sex harassment. In contrast, pandemics such as COVID-19 remove learners from schools as a learning and safety hub for the most vulnerable girls. The movements of these vulnerable girls living in poor and/or violent households are restricted and that heightens the dangers they face in the home. Their being housebound means that the support systems they need such as social welfare and helplines are out of reach. In other words , during COVID-19 inequalities based on gender, age and social class become more of a reality to the detriment of girls.
Q7. Samuel Mukundi, Jaslika, Nyeri, Kenya: Thanks Dr Changu for a balanced view on violence against women/girls and that metted to boys and men. With Covid19 heightened emotional violence against men.
A: Thank you Samuel. I subscribe to the definition of School Related Gender Based Violence (SRGBV) as agreed upon by UNESCO, UN Women and the Global Working Group to End School Related Gender Based Violence. It states that “SRGBV involves acts and threats of sexual, physical or psychological violence occurring in and around schools, perpetrated because of gender norms and stereotypes and enforced by unequal power dynamics. That SRGBV is pervasive cutting across cultural, geographic and economic barriers” (https://en.unesco.org/themes/school-violence-and-bullying/school-related-gender-based-violence UNESCO, 2016).
GBV is not just about violence against girls and women and therefore a woman’s problem . It is also about masculinity; about how we raise boys and perceive boys and men; and how we are addressing structural gender inequalities. GBV has to examine gender relations in order to deal with the power dynamics between men and women.
Q8. Godisang Mookodi, Botswana: I do believe that we in tertiary education need to explore creative ways to bring about change. Anybody with similar experiences?
Q9: Marygorety Akinyi, Kenya: It is amazing that Institutions of Higher learning such as University of Bostwana have failed to implement Sexual Harassment Policy yet they should lead by example.
Q 10: Godisang Mookodi, Botswana: Thanks for mentioning the situation in Botswana Changu. A big up to GBV NGOs in Botswana who are doing amazing work in spite of weak GBV referral networks. They need us to step up as individuals.
A: Marygorety, I appreciate your highlighting the failed implementation of the Sexual Harassment Policy at the University of Botswana raised by Godisang. In my view the situation at the University of Botswana is a reflection of a larger and deeper problem throughout low income and middle income countries. Governments and key institutions such Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) have proved themselves apt at developing sound policies and procedures on gender equality and GBV such as the sexual harassment policies for schools and universities. However, the moot point is that implementation of these policies is unsatisfactory and as a result the perpetration of GBV continues. Policy implementation is patchy due to political and bureaucratic resistance to addressing gender inequality and violence (Ellsberg et.al, 2015). Policy makers and leaders at national and institutional levels such as HEIs and the education sector have been criticized for lack of political will, fragmented legislative frameworks and creating national and institutional policies without strategic action plans. Action plans that do not include training or resources to support implementation in the education sector ( Leach et.al 2014).
Dr Changu Mannathoko (Additional remarks)
It is essential to continuously undertake action research to inform, monitor and evaluate SRGBV. Countries need to document, share and monitor working models, scalable best practices and innovations on ending school related gender based violence. The evidence and data collected on scalable best practice from countries would be tested, adapted and adopted to demonstrate impact on addressing violence in and around schools. This in turn will lead to better long-term research and data to inform understanding of how to sustainably scale effective interventions to end SRGBV. Scaling impact for social good would also contribute to better comprehension of what proven projects and interventions work across different political, economic, social and cultural contexts, and under what conditions. This would also foster knowledge and 21st century skills and values in a wide number of contexts for learners irrespective of gender, location, social group or race.
Questions for Berhan Taye
Q1. Dr Sheila Wamahiu, Jaslika, Nairobi: Have you noted any increase or decrease in on-line gender violence since the Covid pandemic? Or monitored during active conflicts like wars and civil strife?
A: I haven’t come across any research that’s particularly monitoring online gender-based violence during the pandemic.
Q2. Conrad Watola, Jaslika, Nairobi: How was information gathering handled in past pandemics/ epidemics? Has anything changed during this pandemic?
A: I’m not sure I understand this question. I’m assuming the information that’s being gathered is info about online gender-based violence. Unlike offline gender-based violence, there aren’t that many organizations that regularly monitor online gender-based violence and providing a baseline number.
Q3. Ali Wamahiu, Jaslika, Nyeri: Dr. Changu talked of the backlash against women’s empowerment and gender equality, and Dr Sheila observed that for every one step forward, women are taking two steps backwards. We are seeing disinformation communicated through social media by Meninists discrediting and demeaning women’s rights as human rights, and creating false equivalence between Meninism and Feminism. What research has been done in the African context analyzing the social media content from this perspective?
A: Not much has been done to account for this particular perspective. There’s new research coming out on a similar topic from Pollicy - keep an eye out on their website - http://pollicy.org/
Q4. Patricia Onsando, Silverstone Travels, Kenya: Well explained. Yes, there should be mass education on cyberbullying.
A: 100%! Mass education both for young folks in school and parents and the public will be essential to curtail the impact of cyberbullying on our societies.
Closing Statements
Below, the closing statements of the panelists and the Webinar facilitators are reproduced.
Dr. Sheila Wamahiu: I would really like to thank everybody, the panelists for honoring our invitation and having the patience to be here for so long. We have gone over the time that we had expected; the same thing with the audience. We had a tremendous audience, you exceeded our expectations, so it has really been great for me personally. We will be administering a brief survey to all of the registered attendees. We really value your feedback as well as the feedback from the panelists. There are so many important and critical issues that have come up, that we could use in our future webinars or other forums to engage people for policy and for practice. Panelists and Declan Magero, final words?
Dr Changu Mannathoko: I wanted to amplify the whole issue of policy. A lot of governments in the region have policies linked to gender-based violence; they have code of conduct for schools, they have protocols for sexual harassment; however, the challenge is enforcement. One of the reasons why enforcement is a challenge is because there is a backlash to push for gender equality. Like from the year 2010, there were a lot of activities throughout Africa, sexual harassment policy and protocols. But now, there is kind of like a backlash. So we need to address that backlash so that all stakeholders can really begin to unite together to push the agenda forward. Even the SDGs, like on gender inequality, have not really helped to increase the momentum like we should. So this is one area which is a gap. We need to discuss further in another Webinar because we also need to see what different continents and countries are doing to address this backlash.
Dr Sheila Wamahiu: Thank you, Changu. Policy gap, and what we can do to address this backlash. One step forward, but two steps backwards.
Justice Martha Koome: Yes, I think my final punch is that GBV rears it’s ugliest head during the crisis, according to our experience here. I think what needs to go out is that it is unacceptable, it is still a crime, it should be reported and there should be follow up services and even if the judicial services are limited, the priority right now should be given to gender-based violence. Whichever limited courts that are open, their priority should be gender-based violence. The other punchline is that now access to technology has become a way of life. You cannot even file your documents unless it's online; children cannot access reading materials unless they have some kind of internet connectivity. What I would urge is that if there are donors who can come in and extend that broadband access so that children, even those in public schools can also access learning during this particular time of crisis because we do not know how long it is going to be. Thank you.
Dr Sheila Wamahiu: Thank you. Who wants to come in next? Megan? And maybe then Berhan after that.
Megan O'Donnell: Sure. As the Judge has said, gender-based violence is magnified in times of crisis. I think I fully identify with that. As we discussed, it's its own crisis. Before Covid-19 swept the globe, 1 in 3 women already experienced physical or sexual violence in her life time. Almost half of female homicides are committed by intimate partners. So if we are all fortunate enough, if and when, to get back to our lives as they once were, out of quarantine and social distancing circumstances, the hope is that this issue has been brought to light, more so than it ever has been and we can't go back to business as usual. This has to stay as a key public health and human rights priority. And just thank you to all of you for letting me participate. I have learnt so much from my fellow speakers. Thank you all.
Dr Sheila Wamahiu: Thank you. So it can’t be business as usual. Berhan?
Berhan Taye: So I want my last words to focus more on the offline space. So I am thinking of the sex workers that are not currently able to work in this space and they are not able to feed their families. I am thinking about all the women that are trying to access safe abortions and are not able just because of everything happening around them. And you know the human rights defenders and activists who are trying to still hold on to the democracy that is still left within this Covid situation, and governments which are over-legislating, and over-using this pandemic to aggressively chip away our democracy. All these things are what we should think about and it should be a call for all of us to be very vigilant at this time because our adversaries are equally very vigilant on their end.
Dr Sheila Wamahiu: Thank you Berhan. We must all be vigilant because our adversaries are also very vigilant on the negative side. Over to Declan.
Declan Magero: I would first thank the moderator for doing a great job and also every speaker - Justice Koome, Berhan, Changu and Megan - for such deep insights. There are extensive questions that have been asked that we could not answer in this session. We definitely ... Number one, the recording of this webinar will be available. The other bit is we will do a publication - whether a blog or whatever - to address these questions and also to continue with the discussion. I think my key takeaway is that Covid-19 is not the only pandemic; gender and sexual-based violence and violence against children is actually a pandemic. So we should continue with discussions like this and I think the Webinar series and other initiatives should actually come up and highlight these pandemics and find a way to stop it. Thank you very much.