Barriers Women Survivors of Gender-based Violence Experience in Seeking Legal Services in Makueni County, Kenya

Abstract

This study sought to investigate and highlight the barriers women survivors of gender-based violence experience when seeking legal services in Makueni County. The study also sought to explore the various forms of gender-based violence experienced by women. Specifically, the study sought to find out various legal interventions women survivors seek and the barriers they experience. This study adopted a qualitative research design featuring In-depth Interviews, Case Narratives and Key Informant Interviews as the main methods of data collection and information/data from secondary sources. Primary data was collected from 20 women survivors of gender-based violence aged 18 years and above whose abusers were intimate partners. However, a few women survivors whose abusers were not their intimate partners were also included. The study was guided by the social learning theory. The data collected was analysed using thematic content analysis in line with specific study objectives. The study findings are presented in the form of narratives with verbatim quotes to magnify the informants‟ voices. The study revealed that the most common form of violence meted on women by their intimate partners were physical violence, sexual violence, marital violence, economic violence and psychological/emotional violence. The study further revealed that survivors of gender-based violence sought help from a wide range of agencies within the legal set up including village elders, clan elders, sub-chief, chief, police and court. However, only a few cases were filed in court because of barriers which included ignorance of legal process and lack of referral systems of cases as some women reported being taken back and forth - like the police referring them to clan elders - when clan elders, who were unable to resolve the cases refer them back to the police. Other barriers hindering women from accessing legal services included economic dependency, poverty and illiteracy, corruption, poor referral systems for gender-based violence, culture and its socialization, law enforcement on institutional barriers, lack of awareness on laws and legal procedures/process, fear of consequences from family members and legal barriers. Gender-based violence is a prevalent and a serious problem affecting women with long lasting consenquences such as death, physical disbilities, emotional and psychological disorders like heart problems that include high blood pressure. There is need to fight GBV by all costs. We need to religiously protect women from violence. We have to start with the family and communty so as to offer support to the women victims and help them to seek legal services. We have to unit the family, community, clan elders, chiefs, police, religion, county governement, national government and courts of law in order to fight this glaring vice. There is an urgent need for the governement to sensitize its citzens on the laws and legislation on GBV. Government needs to allocate adequate resources to train the police on human rights, prevention, protection from and response to gender-based violence.