The month of October 2021 was marred by a surge of Gender Based Violence cases in Nairobi. The gut wrenching events that happened left Kenyans with many questions, devastated the families, friends, industries and the country as a whole.
In both cases, they featured prominent personalities. I guess that’s the reason why the intricate details of both cases spread so fast and the names of the people involved on everyone’s lips.
Gender Based Violence( GBV) is not new in the country. It has been in existence for a long time and are often swept under the carpet and evidence locked up in dark closets. These unfortunately are only brought to the fore when well- known persons are involved .
A young life snuffed out while another life takes downward turn
World record holder and celebrated athlete Agnes, was brutally murdered by her partner. She had just participated in Toyko Olympics this very year finishing 4th in 5000 meters race .A Month later ,she broke a world record in 10k race setting a time of 30.01 in Germany!
It’s heartbreaking that even after shuttering world records travelling the world she still faced Gender Based Violence that is so pervasive in the country. This eventually lead to her death. Her former partner fled but was later apprehended by the authorities.
Agnes’ hopes and dreams of shattering more records and winning more gold medals were brutally crashed by one so close to her. She did not plan to die anytime soon. Her partner whom is not as well known, must have had dreams of his own too. Perhaps they had planned on starting a wonderful family together.
They must have heard of other gbv and murder cases on the news, they perhaps seemed too far away from them. Just like the rest of us, we hear of things happening to others and we often tend to think that’s them,not me or they chose that life.
Two attacked and shaken to the core while other two lives destroyed
The other case involved two sisters who were attacked by two brothers they had met at a party. A certain video did rounds on social media captured some detail of what happened in real time. They only know what truly transpired that fateful night. The ladies eventually got help and the brothers faced wrath of Kenyans on social media, and not to mention a looming legal case. This no doubt has damaged their families and their promising business venture that was to transform many lives for the better. All their lives will never be the same again.
None of these people ever dreamed that such fate would befall them. They all seemed to be ordinary people living their lives ,just like you and me. It is unfortunate when one sees himself as an outsider and judges the victims and the offenders soo harshly, only for you to find yourself in a similar position having done probably even worse.
Early Marriages and GBV
A certain wealthy Octogenarian sold off his teenage daughter into forced marriage to a friend. When the young lass ran away, her months’ old baby was given to the man to be raised in his home as a future wife! Anyone who dared oppose the old man for his stoneage thinking would bear the brunt of his wrath, the first in line was his elderly wife.
I later learnt that as this was happening in Kenya, a similar story was happening in Afghanistan. Men forcing their wives to sell off their young daughters and babies as wives.
End GBV
We truly are our brothers and sister’s keeper, some tragedy that one person goes through may seem soo far off ,far removed from your reality until it is you facing that very thing.
Like loosing a loved one, you may have seen someone bury their dead and wondered why they didn’t carry themselves with decorum and dignity until you get your turn.
We cheat ourselves in thinking that we are independent individuals, grown adults, making your own money, we don’t need to be bothered by others be it family, neighbor or foreigner.
We fool ourselves in thinking our countries are Independent and sovereign with our own jurisdictions and laws. We need to wake up to the reality that we may seem independent but are interdependent on one another.
It’s sad that when stories of this nature are aired on the media some of us are quick to change the channel or swipe away to something more interesting like the latest celebrity gossip. Preferring to drown ourselves with the seemingly perfect lifestyles ignoring what is truly happening to humanity around us.
It’s sad when we act aloof thinking that those are not our problems, that everybody is different and independent We are more alike than you think, more connected to each other than you know and interdependent on each other than we care to admit.
Ending GBV cannot be done by the mere stroke of a pen. I realize that stopping GBV would take more than that, more collective and deliberate action from people, institutions, governments. But if we each did our bit and took steps toward that daily we can stop GBV dead in its tracks
- Admit that none of us are perfect.
Our human pride makes us think that we are more superior than our fellow humans. It blurs our reality and we think we are perfect. But truth is none of us is perfect. None has a perfect heart, perfect behavior or perfect morals. - Admit that we need help.
Now that we know we are not perfect, we seek help. We strive for excellence to become better. If you are in a strenuous relationship or troubled within yourself seek help, someone to listen to you and offer wise counsel and who you would be accountable to. Seeking help is not limited to experts but divine help as well!
We should also seek help from Our Creator, for he made you after all. The Lord Jesus is our help in time of need. His Holy Spirit gives us counsel, strength, comfort and even helps us to live right. We are to rely on his strength and his guidance he promises that If we seek him we shall indeed find him! So start seeking! - Admit that we need to care for others
We are interdependent and that no man or woman is an island! Nothing has made this fact more real than the recent Covid pandemic. When it started in China, it seemed just like any other flu until it spread to the entire world in a matter of days! To date there are more than 252 Million cases in the world, and out of those 5Million ended in fatalities.
So let’s care for the plight of others. Reach out to help those in need, who are suffering, you don’t need to be a rich philanthropist to do so. Just start by being kind, speaking kind words to others without excluding yourself!
Again this I have found will prove difficult if not impossible without divine help. The simplest way I can say this is that you can’t give what you don’t have. The Lord Jesus who is eternal love personified fills you with love that overflows to others. So if you ever run out go back to his source, its eternal, never ending plus he guarantees eternal life if you simply believe in him!
- Take the right action
Now that you have the information, you need to use it right? So go ahead and take action, take the right action that will lead you in the right direction, in doing your bit in ending GBV and transforming your little part of the world.
ComeFullCircle 