Men turn the tide against abuse of women and girls in Tharaka Nithi

Geoffrey Gitonga trains community champions against abuse of women and girls rights in Tharaka Nithi, on February 4, 2025. [James Wanzala, Standard] It's rare to come across men fighting for women and girls' rights in Kenya. However, in the sleepy Nkarini village, Chuka Igamba Ng'ombe, Tharaka Nithi County, a group of men is defying cultural norms to fight against abuse of women and girls. The group led by Geoffrey Gitonga, 58, and David Mutegi, 59, has been traversing the villages preaching against the victimisation of women and girls. The group was trained by Child Fund Kenya as community male champions through a project dubbed Tujukumike. "I came to know Child Fund Kenya 15 years ago, but was first trained by Men End FGM in 2020. Two years ago, Child Fund invited us for training to fight all forms of abuse of children be it boys or girls," says Gitonga. The training changed him - he lay down his ego- and now helps with house chores. During an interview at his home, the man excused himself to prepare a meal. Earlier when we arrived, he was unhanging clothes from the line. Gitonga and his colleagues have been fighting child abuse in the county, and after three years of unrelenting push, their efforts have started paying off. "As parents, guardians and caregivers, you need to know the rights of your children. If your girls, for example are violated, you need to know channels of reporting the matter to ensure they get justice," says Gitonga during a meeting with his colleagues at Gaceraka chief's camp. The human rights champion who is also a Community Health Promoter(CHP), says he took up the role after witnessing children sexually abused either by men or molested by their stepmothers. One of the incidents that is still fresh in his mind is that of a father raping his child. The perpetrator was arrested, prosecuted and handed a life sentence. "Our collaborative efforts with the Assistant Chief has helped reduce cases of Female Genital Mutilation, and I doubt if the practice is now common. Though not prevalent, the challenge giving us headache is child labour, which happens mostly during holidays when parents force children to cultivate land for pay," says Gitonga. He appeals for more training and awareness campaigns to bolster the fight against child abuse. "I also urge that the judicial process starting from the chief is fast-tracked because sometimes it becomes tiresome," says Gitonga, who prides in having changed the perception of men towards women and girls. He points out that delayed justice hinders their work and erodes the gains made. However, so far, three men have been sentenced to life imprisonment, which Mutegi says serves a deterrent to other men who might be tempted to abuse women and children. David Mutegi,59, one of the community male champions fighting against child abuse in Tharaka Nithi County, on March 12, 2025. [James Wanzala, Standard] "We are trying as much as we can to completely end child school dropouts, which is caused by neglect by parents, disagreements, illicit brew and poverty that is fueled by the nature of the county classified as Arid and Semi-Arid Land (Asal) area," says Mutegi. "I urge fellow men to work hard despite the tough economic conditions of this place to provide for their families," he adds. Mutegi warns men against abusing children saying the law will catch up with them, no matter how long it takes. To ensure that the advocacy reaches all corners of the county, Child Fund Kenya, facilitates the champions with transport and lunch. Mutegi argues that the girl child is the most vulnerable compared to boys because when they get pregnant, their education journey is compromised. According to the 2022 Kenya Demographic Health Survey, Tharaka Nithi county reported the highest FGM prevalence rate in Mount Kenya region. Cases of gender-based violence(GBV) against girls and women including rape, teenage pregnancies, child labour have been at an all-time high in the recent past. The fact that the county is classified as Asal coupled with climate change worsens the situation. However today, the story is different thanks to collaborative efforts between national and county governments, Child Rise Development Programme, Child Fund Kenya and locals. Dennis Mutwiri, children officer for Igamba Ng'ombe sub-county, says cases of child abuse have reduced from 27 per cent to 10 per cent from about 500 to currently 200, during an interview in Tharaka Nithi county, on March 12, 2025. [James Wanzala, Standard]. Dennis Mutwiri, Children Officer for Igamba Ng'ombe sub-county, notes that cases of child abuse have now reduced from 27 per cent to 10 per cent. "Previously, in every 20 girls, about three had undergone the cut but now that has reduced and we rarely get such cases thanks to the measures we have taken like creating awareness, and arresting perpetrators who are languishing in prison," says Mutwiri. He says girls are more vulnerable to abuse compared to the boys. "Most of the cases of abuse are against children, and girls by either being neglected, undergoing FGM, defiled, sexual and psychological abuse. Due to the nature of the area, the poverty levels are unfortunately very high forcing parents to 'sell-off' their children for survival," says Mutwiri. Currently, the officer reveals that they are grappling with teenage pregnancies with 249 cases reported at health centres towards the end of 2024. Child Fund Kenya has been financing Tujukumike project since January 2024 at a cost of Sh17 million while Child Rise Development Programme is the implementing partner. "The Tujukumike project focuses on establishing the link between formal and informal structures of child protection and strengthen them," explains Faith Wambua, a Child Protectionist, who is in in charge of the project. Child Fund has a model dubbed Community-Based Child Protection that revolves around identifying existing community structures to empower locals. "The organisation has had various trainings starting from schools, where teachers benefit so that whenever a case of child abuse is reported within the school, there is that reporting structure and this is supported by the administration structure at the school," says Wambua. A total of 105 teachers, a similar number of members of school Boards of Management (BOM), 210 pupils and 90 community champions have been trained on how to identify cases of child abuse. "At community level, we train community child protection champions, who can identify any child abuse case and since they are trained on referral and reporting structures, they are able to follow it up through the chiefs and children officers so that any case reported is handled and managed properly," notes Wambua. That is not all, the project has also conducted community barazas in partnership with office of County Commissioner and officers from the Ministry of Gender alongside those from Department of Children Services., The project has also trained duty bearers that are part of Tharaka Nithi County Children Advisory Council on matters child protection, focusing on three areas; online child sexual exploitation and abuse, gender-base violence(GBV) prevention and school-based violence prevention. "Also, the project has 36 trained child protection actors who work as our ambassadors across the county and equipped five police stations that have gender and child protection centres with stationery and improved the environment to be conducive for people to visit and report cases," says Wambua. The project, runs in Chagarika and Iga Ng'ombe sub-counties, where incidences are often reported. The Tujumike project also runs Kamarandi Girls Rescue Centre that houses survivors, mostly teenagers. The centre, which has been in existence since 2022 has rescued and hosted over 25 FGM and child marriage survivors according Esther Gitonga, the centre manager. "Through this centre, we have been able to offer them psychological support and life skills training since they come here very traumatised from the incidents they underwent," said Ms Gitonga. During the interview, the centre had 10 survivors and in the previous month, she said they integrated a same number into their families. "After we rescue the girls and rehabilitate them here, we integrate them back into their families or identify willing relatives who can stay with them like the way we did with Jane because our intention is not keep them longer here," explains Ms Gitonga, who adds they also sponsor their education since some come from poor backgrounds.

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