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Home Projects Documenting Interlinkages between HIV & GBV HIV, GBV & CONFLICT: Edition 1

HIV, GBV & CONFLICT: Edition 1

Edition 1 of features on HIV, Gender based violence and conflict



Still Standing

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Beyond pain

As the post-election violence ranged on and scores of women sexually abused, a sizeable number of these women conceived and some carried the pregnancy to term. Two years have gone by and everyday these children grow bigger and soon some will begin to conceptualize what constitutes a ‘normal’ family.

There are those who will call out for ‘baba’ (father) and these women; survivors of hideous violations will continuously remember their nightmare even though the physical pain and injuries have long healed. Yet they will have no answer for their little one.

 

Bumpy road to justice for violence survivors

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According to women right activists, gender based violence in the country continues to receive little attention due to the low statistical evidence on the number of survivors.On a chilly Tuesday evening in 2002, Miriam Wangui was convulsed in shock after she was gang raped.

Wangui says that she was in a vehicle that got carjacked “We were carjacked sometime back in 2002 and the gang ordered all men to leave after relieving them of their valuables. I was however, held hostage and raped at gun point.

 

Community based initiatives to fight vice

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The community leaders flow in one by one into the social hall in Mashimoni and as they receive their workshop materials including a simplified version of the Sexual Offences Act 2006,one can only hope that it will make a difference to in this slum which was a hot spot during the post election violence.

Risper Awino is an elder and chairlady for the local women’s group in Mashimoni and says that the community forums over the last two years have been numerous, however she says those on gender based violence have hit closer home due to the number of women sexually abused during the political chaos.

 

Towards eliminating gender based violence

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Although it is an experience she would rather forget, she knows all too well that the memory of that fateful ordeal will follow her to her grave.

Every so often the bitterness and the pain overwhelm her as justice remains a mirage.

“I was raped, starved and subjected to 70 strokes of the cane for six days nonstop,” begins Mercy Wangui as she recounts the harrowing ordeal in the hands of the famous Naivasha vampire.

 

Violence victim now peace ambassador

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Regina Omonge, 36, will not relent until she succeeds in her campaign to promote peaceful co-existence among the various communities residing in Busia irrespective of their ethnic background.

And she has every reason to undertake the spirited campaign as she was among thousands of people who were displaced at the height of the post election violence in 2007.

“I opted to venture into peace building initiatives after I was subjected to a harrowing ordeal during the eruption of violence that saw innocent people lose their dear lives and properties for reasons best known to the perpetrators of the post election violence”, says Omonge, adding that all her tools of trade were burnt beyond recognition whereas some were looted by armed youths.

 

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Strength of a Woman

Strength of a Woman - Women, Land & Property

Strength of a Woman - Women, Land & Property

With this special issue on land and property rights, the Strength of a Woman, a product of the African Woman and Child Feature Service is again bringing you the untold stories of women, marginalised groups, challenges with the COK2010 and land policy and the need to connect the dots on issues with land using practical experience.

Download Strength of a Woman - Women, Land & Property

Download Strength of a Woman - I.W.D. Special

Download Strength of a Woman - Maternal Health & Death

Kenyan Woman

Kenyan Woman Issue 23

The Kenyan Woman is a publication of AWCFS and is produced with support from United Nations Democracy Fund

Kenyan Woman Issue 23Kenyan Woman Issue 22|Kenyan Woman Issue 21|Kenyan Woman Issue 20| Kenyan Woman Issue 19 | Previous Editions of Kenyan Woman

Reject Online

The latest edition of the Reject Newspaper is out. The Reject is a bi-monthly online newspaper by the Media Diversity Centre, a project of AWCFS.

Reject Online Issue 54|Reject Online Issue 53 |World Aids Day Special - Reject 52Reject Online Issue 51|Reject Online Issue 50|Reject Online Issue 49|other issues of the Reject Online

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