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"content": "Typically, GBV is characterized by the use of threat of physical, psychological, sexual, economic, legal, political, social and other norms of control and abuse. Mr. Speaker, Sir, as a Senator who is here on behalf of a special group, the women, it is important that we understand what really constitutes GBV and the fact that it is much more than just physical. It is psychological, economic, legal, political and social and has impact across the individual during their life time. It also has a direct cost to families both economically and in global health. As you might know, HIV, for instance, affects women much more than it does men. This is also quite related to some of these socially constructed imbalances, sexual abuse and GBV. Mr. Speaker, Sir, why does this matter? It matters because it is widely recognized that violence against women including harassment and harmful practices are major barriers to fulfilment of human rights. It is also a direct challenge to women’s inclusion and participation in sustaining peace and development. Without tackling this, we will never fulfill the sustainable development agenda of Vision 2030. Around the world, one in every three women has experienced physical or sexual violence in her life. 750 million women were married before reaching the age of 18 and the statistics for our county are worse than this. Therefore, that is why this really matters. The populations that are more affected by this are those of women and girls, who bear the brunt of it much more than anybody else and they are at most risk, disproportionately affected by GBV. It is experienced across the entire spectrum of gender and identities or expressions; both men and boys also experience GBV. However, vulnerable groups experience GBV much more than anybody else. Mr. Speaker, Sir, the least visible victims and survivors of violence are the most vulnerable in our community. They include adolescents, who suffer a lot; the little girl who moves from one house to another because, all of a sudden, she is a bride; the baby who gets cut with a razor in a Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) ceremony; the woman beaten by a partner behind closed doors; the silenced women rights defenders and the teenagers in a bedroom being bullied on cyber space. All these constitute GBV victims. Mr. Speaker, Sir, what has our country done about GBV? The country has done a lot. It is surprising that even with all these legislations, there is very little in terms of the real outcomes that we are experiencing at the moment. Just to name a few, we have the Constitution of Kenya, which is the supreme law of our county that promotes equality and freedom from discrimination. We have The Sexual Offences Act, The Children Act, The Protection against Domestic Violence Act, The Prohibition of FGM Act, The Marriage Act, The Criminal Procedure Code, The Matrimonial Property Act and The Election Offences Code. All these are supposed to help eliminate GBV, but with all these legislations, we still have very little to show for the outcome that we desire. Mr. Speaker, Sir, in addition to the various pieces of legislations cited above, there are other policy interventions including the National Guidelines on Management of Sexual Violence, the National Framework towards Response and Prevention of GBV in Kenya and The National Monitoring and Evaluation Framework towards Prevention and response to Sexual and GBV in Kenya."
}