Preparation - Badilika Project UNDERLYING PRINCIPLE OF CHALLENGING MEN WHO BEHAVE ABUSIVELY / VIOLENTLY TO WOMEN AND CHILDREN -Pwani GBV Network
By Betty Sharon And May Odhiambo
Table of contents.
1.0 Abbreviations CWID Coast Women in Development DPPC Deputy Provincial Prisons Commissioner GBV Gender Based Violence GBV-RC Gender Based Violence Recovery Center ICRHK International Centre for Reproductive Health Kenya IP Inspector KICODI Kisauni Community Development Initiative MUHURI Muslims for Human Rights SAVEDA Saveda Charity Savings SUPT Superintendent. WOFAK Women Fighting AIDS In Kenya
2.0 Executive Summary. Badilika (Change) is the name of the project that was decided by the male sexual offenders at Shimo La Tewa Prison, now re-named the Rehabilitation Centre, the group of 19 male sexual offenders who concurred with us on 20th June at Shimo La Tawe Rehabilitation Centre feels there is a need to involve the sexual offenders in the fight against gender based violence. Perpetrators’ behavioral change, participatory learning approaches and involving perpetrators in outreach programs where they can open up and speak openly about their behavior change can create more gender-equitable relationships, thereby decreasing gender based violence. In Kenya, sexual offenders after being charged in the court of law and sent to prison, are forgotten and people don’t have their tracks once they finish their terms, this makes it easy for them to follow their targets for revenge and go back to their old ways or even worse ways of offending. It is also not easy to get and approach these sexual offenders for behavioral change out of prison. The project aims to work hand in hand with the Shimo La Tewa Rehabilitation Authority and sexual offenders in prison who have accepted their mistakes and ready to participate in the program Badilika to be ambassadors , challenging males young and old to be 'MEN NOT VIOLENT NOT SILENT'! The project aims to -Provide an opportunity for men, to be both challenged about their abusive behavior and supported to change. -Make abusive men accept their offenses and take up the challenge with renewed hope that they can change and hence prevent further damage to their partners or children and the society. -follow the underlying principles of challenging men who behave abusively or violently to women and children, as stated below
3.0 Introduction. The Pwani GBV Network under the secretariat of Coast Women in Development is a network that deals with the prevention and awareness of gender based violence in the Coast Province. The network organizations give various individual supports to the survivors of Gender Based Violence like legal support and counseling. The Pwani GBV network was started after the realization that there were many victims of post election violence who suffered both physically and psychologically due to the abuse inflicted on them. There was need for a body to come up and take responsibility over the prevention and awareness of gender based violence. This is how the GBV prevention network was formed and to date the flag for fighting gender based violence is forever raised high.
The Badilika Project is a follow-up from the Engendering Violence Conference in Uppsala University where Betty Sharon represented CWID in 2009 and learnt about working with abusive men to challenge violence against women and children, in a presentation by Dr Chris Laming. At the same conference there was also a presentation ., on The Community Walk Against Family Violence by Dr Karen Crinall, Ms Daphne Yarram, Ms Kerry Hamer and Dr Chris Laming, that presented a model of collaborative research and evaluation of a community awareness project. The report of this project is now freely available at www.coastwomen.org
The Badilika Project is now a joint initiative of Dr Chris Laming and Pwani Gender Based Violence network. The project will mainly focus on the male perpetrators of GBV who have accepted their offenses and are ready to change at Shimo La Tewa Rehabilitation Centre and at the Borstal. This is in order
4.0 Day 1 Meeting With DPPC The meeting with DPPC James Sawe was an opening of the dialogue with the prisoners, he depicted how offenders come back to the prison afterwards. We talked much on prison reforms , denial, revenge acceptance from the community and family as well as repentance. . 5.0 Plenary Discussion Shimo La Tewa. The meeting commenced with an intro from the IP Abbas and was followed by one from Sharon about the Pwani GBV Network. A number of issues were raised over the next -3 hours. In some ways the meeting was quite extra ordinary: ..eg the fact that.
What was not so extraordinary was:
6.0 Plenary Discussion Shimo La Tewa Bostal At Borstal Superintendent Aggrey Akoyo who is in charge of Borstal is a counselor and a teacher by profession. He understands the youths at the institution and their cases and feels more like a father to them He works familiarly with IP Roda a social worker by profession, who he describes as a mother to the boys . 21 boys were gathered to talk to us by Mr Manene , a welfare officer at the institution. In the Borstal it was different, listening to the stories by the boys and most of it was about them trying to discover themselves .
Summary of offences of the Borstal group (total 21)
Chris Laming gave a short talk to the boys in which he expressed the following:
Concerns from the boys.
They were so eager to be assisted with the change process that they offer to perform a poem and a song about their life story to the participants at the network dialogue meet. This went well with Supt Akoyo who did not only allow them permission to come but also Dr Laming to plant a Badilika Tree to commemorate the occasion.
7.0 Dialogue Meeting With the Pwani GBV network The attendance of the members was exceptional , with representatives from MUHURI and FIDA as observers , Introduction of participants by May Odhiambo from the Secretariat of the network ( CWID) released the Network`s introduction by Sharon of which then Liz Aroka from ICRHK/ GBVCR gave a description of how cases are handled at the GBVCR at Coast General Provincial Hospital.
Dr Chris Laming, could sense the angst of the participants about his work with the sexual offenders , he requested for the questions before he could give his talk and below were the concerns from participants.
Response No one is born abusive/violent , it is the way people are brought up. A boy whose parents are violent will often learn to solve his problems through violence, just as a girl might learn to see such GBV as ‘normal’. It is important to work with abusive men so that their children don’t take after them in using violence and abuse. At first the community are hesitant but after sentizisation they see the reality in rehabilitating the abusive men and involving them in the prevention / awareness of gender based violence. Working with the perpetrators is testing however to achieve your goal you must work with only those who have accepted their offences and ready to change, working with this kind of group can be fruitful and when abusive men talk of repercussions of violence to the community and their behavioral change people tend to be keen for the message. Men with disabilities needs protection from violence as any other human being and women who violates them should face the law, Some women too, need behavioral change. The bottom line is that most GBV is done by men and that any work with them to challenge that behaviour must have as its ultimate aim the greater safety and well-being of women and children. Those who work with men for behavior change must ensure that they do not give women and children a false sense of safety. Behavior change can take a long time and persistence. Three steps forward and one back. Some men are highly resistant to changing to non-violence and learning respect. Most men can change and a few seemingly never will. Hence ongoing risk assessment is essential. 8.0 Way Forward.
Above: In the two pictues above: there are network members, prison officers , Badilika group and Dr Laming during the dialogue meeting at Shimo La Tewa Main.
Above: Above: Betty Sharon watering the Badilika tree after Liz Aroka ICRH givinga talk on GBVRC(Gender Based Violence rescue It was planted by Dr Lamming at Shimo La Tewa Borstal. Centre)that is found at the Coast Provincial General Hospital
Above ‘Badilika Group’ photo
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