Community health worker fighting gender based violence in Kibra

Community health worker fighting gender based violence in Kibra

Forty-nine year old, Jane Nyokabi is trying to end gender based violence in her community. Nyokabi works as a Community Health Volunteer, a role she started seven years ago. She also works with the area chief and the nyumba kumi officials to empower young people in the area.

Jane and her colleagues work in a well connected group. “When there are cases of domestic violence in my area and am not around, I liaise with the area chief to handle the situation. We are currently operating in Kawangware in Dagoretti North, Muslim area, Gatina and in Kabiro,” says Nyokabi.

Besides her work as a Community Health Volunteer, Nyokabi works to protect victims of defilement in her community. But this is not without challenges.  While she files numerous defilement cases hoping to get justice for the victims, some family members collude to derail the cases. “We have cases where the victim is moved away to deliberately delay the court hearing sessions. We have also had cases where the offender is a close family member, something that creates bad blood between the perpetrator and the victim,” she adds.

According to Nyokabi, the team of Community Health Workers is determined to address other issues among young people such as teenage pregnancies, school dropouts, early marriages and domestic conflicts among families in the community. She also links young people in her community with employment opportunities.