Gender based violence during this Covid-19 pandermic

Teenagers face real challenges during the ages of 13 and 19. During this time they are exposed to a lot of external and internal struggles that determine the decisions. It is also the period where they go through a lot especially on coping with hormonal changes, puberty, social and parental pressures, school pressures, as well as encountering many conditions. Many teens feel misunderstood as they experience issues that their parents/guardians are not aware of . It is vital that their feelings and thoughts are validated and that the validation comes from their parents. Here are some of the struggles that teens in Kenya face. Self Esteem This is one of the most common problems that affect teens as they hit puberty. When their bodies start changing, they also begin comparing themselves with their peers and what they see on social media. This in turn creates pressure on what they wear, how they speak and how they look causing a low self esteem.    Menstruation This is the time tha...

  Kenya is experiencing an acute shortage of Antiretroviral  (ARV) drugs which has hit public hospitals, greatly affecting people living with HIV/Aids. The shortage comes just months after the World Health Organization (WHO) said nearly 70 countries were at risk of running out of HIV/Aids drugs due to the COVID-19 pandemic that has interrupted supplies. Now persons with HIV are having to endure reduced doses, with children and unborn babies particularly poised to suffer the most from a Sh90 million tax stand-off between Kenya and a US importer of ARVs, USAID. The Government has focussed too much on issues if covid -19 forgetting that as citizens we have other issues which are far much important. I am not saying that corona is not important and emergency but the government need to come up with ways of balancing and ensuring that every situation is handles. As Kenyans we have problems such as poverty, teenage pregnancies, earl marriages, female genital mutilation, wife inheritan...

There has been a 13 % increase in GBV cases in Kenya between January and March 2020 compared to the same period in 2019, according to analysed data from the national GBV Hotline (1195).  At least 2,350 women and girls across the country need shelters and safe houses for protection from GBV and FGM. Gender - based violence (GBV)is a grave human rights violation that can cause long-term and life - threatening injury and trauma to victims/survivors. All human rights and humanitarian actors must ensure that efforts are made from the onset of an emergency to prevent and respond to acts of gender - based violence and provide adequate care, treatment and support to its victims/survivors. Alongside health impacts, the global COVID19 pandemic has brought a loss of liberties. Restrictions in movement have affected people’s jobs and livelihoods. Despite the many hardships being faced, freedom from violence cannot under any circumstance, be surrendered  the right to live free from violenc...

 BUILDING COMMUNAL RESILIENCE AGAINST TEENAGE PREGNANCY  The Building Community Resilience (BCR) collaborative at the Redstone Center seeks to improve the health of children, families, and communities by fostering engagement between grassroots community services and public and private systems to develop a protective buffer against Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) occurring in Adverse Community Environments (ACEs) – the “Pair of ACEs." Connecting community organizations (through a church health ministry or trusted food pantry, for example) with larger systems (including those in health care, education, business, law enforcement) can begin to build a durable network to improve community wellbeing.  BCR sees community resilience as an essential factor in improving public health outcomes. Community resilience originates from buffers in communities and families to protect individuals from the accumulation of stress due to adverse childhood experiences, such as exposure to ...