Exploring ways of combating gender based violence and a Kenyan perspective

Catherine WN, Kennedy O, Janet

Abstract

Gender Based Violence (GBV) is an umbrella term for any harmful act that is perpetrated against a person‘s will and that is based on socially ascribed (gender) differences between men and women. Methodologically, the article starts by redefining the terms, exploring the possible causes of Gender Based Violence, the effects of GBV, and eventually attempts at exploring the possible methods of combating it. Can appealing to the legal channels be the panacea? Can appealing to international bodies such as USAID, WHO, UNDS, UNHCR among others be the solution to this inhumanity of humanity against humanity itself? Can we use local resources to deliver the promise? The materials in this article have been methodologically gathered through participant observation, reading of relevant literature, and sampling some cases within the city of Nairobi which largely speaks for Kenya and the larger East Africa.