Survivor of Gender Based Violence - COME TOGETHER WIDOWS AND ORPHANS

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The CTWOO is a membership organization registered in Kenya under the NGO Co-ordination Board Act (Cap 19) of 1990 since January 2016. It has a nationwide network and works with more than a million widows in all the 47 Counties through outreach, educational and empowerment programmes.

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SURVIVORS OF gender based violence

Dianah Kamande, is the founder of Cometogether widows and orphans organization which also supports survivors of Gender Violence speaking in the burial of the late Salome Mukuhi who was burned using petrol by her husband.

Dianah insisted on breaking the Culture of silence on Gender Based violence issues and encouraged people to speak out. She further explained the cycle of violence.

Activities under the Survivors of gender Based Violence

Prevention and Management of Gender Based Violence; we have partnered with FIDA, Commission on Administrative Justice (CAJ) and law society of Kenya to provide access to justice and medical services for survivors and advocacy on social media, print media, television to reduce Gender Based Violence.
Psychosocial support– we provide psychosocial support to survivors of Gender based Violence and Widows. Once a woman is widowed, she is lost in loss and grief. Our team offers support through our office line 0702577477/ 0789577476.
Hospital visits: – We are in the front line to pay survivors visits and to hug them just to remind them to be positive about life and concentrate on their healing as we assist them in getting justic Through this Sustainable Development Goal 3, Good health and wellbeing is achieved.
Referrals: For us to achieve Sustainable Development Goal no:17, with partnerships to achieve the Goal we work closely with Health Care Assistance Kenya who are the founders of Sexual Gender Based Violence (SGBV) toll free number 1195. Anytime we receive SBGV case we refer the survivor/victim to call that number for referral to Nairobi Women’s GVRC (gender Violence Recovery Centre), safe house and Ambulance hence strong partnership has led us to achieve other Sustainable Development Goals. We work closely with FIDA-Kenya who provides pro bono legal advice to our widows. Our partnership with Global Fund for Widows has supported Widows table banking activities.
Empowerment: – We empower survivors get knowledge on how to start business and also link them to Women Enterprise Fund, Uwezo Fund, National Government Affirmative Action Fund, Saccos where they receive group funding and start-up capital for their business this helps them to become independent and support their families.

GENDER BASED VIOLENCE (GBV) SURROUNDING WIDOWS

Widowhood is highly associated with Gender Based Violence in many ways and the major contributing factors are the harmful traditional practices dominant in our societies. Widows are highly vulnerable to violence some immediately after the husband’s death with the relatives and wider community as the perpetrators. The most common types of violence are physical and verbal abuse, social expulsion and forced re-marriage (inheritance). The cause of violence against widows is the fact that together with their children, widows are viewed as an economic burden and sometimes are seen as the reason to their husband’s death.

The following are some of the challenges facing widows;

PURSUING JUSTICE

The joy of every GBV victim is to see justice served for the abuse caused to them. Pursuing justice has been a major challenge to widow GBV victims since it requires a lot of money for the process, money that they lack. Poverty has made it hard for them to afford lawyers hence the lack of representation also results to difficulties in the pursuit of justice or no justice at all. Secondly, corruption has played a big role to ensure these victims do not get justice. This is when the perpetrators corrupt the authorities and witnesses hence no legal action is taken on them. Lastly, the patriarchal society has made it ‘normal’ for the abuse against women widows included and therefore when reporting these cases, they are not handled with the seriousness they require.

WIDOW STIGMA AND EXPULSION

As women, widows suffer double jeopardy. First, they go through the normal challenges faced by millions of women around the world by virtue of gender and suffer the challenges of being the sole breadwinners of their families. Lack of a male presence or figure head in their families has exposed them to discrimination, stigma and discrimination. Social stigma and disinheritance often lead to widows being rejected and they choose to escape from these discriminatory social norms against them in cities and other towns. An example is Afghanistan where many widows have found an escape from the stigma and violence in ‘Zanabad’ or city of women built as a safe haven for women victims of GBV some few kilometers south of Kabul.

LACK OF A SAFE HOUSE

There are no safe havens for widow- GBV victims in the country. For instance, if a widow is abused majority are forced to remain in these abusive environments since they have nowhere else to go. Lack of a safe house for widow GBV victims in the country has made it us for us to ensure complete safety for these widows hence subjecting them to more violence and discrimination as they are at the mercies of their relatives and community. Due to high poverty rates among the widows in the country, they can not afford to pay for lodgings and hotel rooms or even flee to new areas to start life a fresh hence ae forced to continue living in these abusive homes hoping that things will get better.

WIDOW CLEANSING

This is a form of GBV that involves having penetrative sexual intercourse with widows for ritualistic cleansing purposes. The individual to be used in this ritual is a man chosen by the relatives and mostly the widows who is the victim has no say whatsoever in how the ritual will be done or who will be involved. Widow cleansing has a direct relationship to HIV/AIDS transmission since no protection is used during the intercourse and in most cases the victim has no clue of the man’s HIV status. Those who refuse to undergo this ritual, are said to have been the cause of the husband’s death hence regarded as outcasts and are cast out of the family.

WIDOW INHERITANCE

This is forced marriage of a widow to the brother of her deceased husband. It is said that it is done to continue the lineage of the deceased husband but in real sense it is done to ensure property and land left by the deceased husband remains with the husband’s family and if the widow refuses to be inherited, she loses all her property. Widow inheritance is mostly done without the consent of the widow and the inherited widow often faces psychological and physical abuse from the new husband families with their children being considered as children of the dead husband.

WIDOW DISINHERITANCE

This involves property grabbing which is a form of GBV with long-term implications for widow’s financial security. It involves theft of a widow’s land and property and other financial assets by their other family members. According to Izumi 2001, Widow disinheritance is not only a form of economic violence but is also accompanied by other forms of violence including physical abuse, harassment and intimidation. According to Loomba Foundation, 2015, physical eviction from the family is a common feature of widows’ disinheritance ordeal in rural parts of sub-Saharan Africa with serious consequences for widows and their children.

WIDOWS WITCHRAFT ACCUSATIONS

Murder, beating, grabbing of assets, verbal abuse, deprivation of food, neglect and denial of some the basic amenities e.g. health are some of the forms of violence against widows (Atata, 2018). According to Sambe, 2014, witchcraft accusations are deeply rooted in the socio-cultural and economic process of particular societies and often triggered by competition for scarce resources, power and domination. Widows have been accused of killing their husbands by witchcraft which then results to violence and abuse from in-laws. Witchcraft accusations among widows is also the basis of widow discrimination and abuse in many parts of Kenya.