Peace Initiative Kenya CESS C U PIK S Y STOR TH MON E H OF T 14
Oct
20 ober
First line of response to gender based violence: a community paralegal worker’s story Story, photo and graphics design by: Valine Moraa
When Mary (not real name) made loud cries for help, neighbors rushed towards her home to find out what was happening. Upon arrival they heard scuffles and ruffles that came from the house, an indication that Mary was being physically assaulted by her husband behind the closed door. The neighbors pleaded with Mary’s husband to stop the beating and open the door but it took quite some time and when he eventually opened he attempted to flee from the crowd that was already running out of patience. He was immediately intercepted by some of the neighbors while other went inside the house only to find Mary lying unconscious on the floor, bleeding from her head, neck and hand as a result of the injuries inflicted by her husband. She was immediately rushed to the hospital. Among those at Mary’s house was Caren Omanga, a community paralegal volunteer who is also a Community Activist working with the Coalition on Violence Against Women (COVAW) under the Peace Initiative Kenya (PIK) Project. She was also one of the people who took Mary to hospital. With the knowledge and skills that she had acquired from the PIK paralegal training held in July 2013, Caren offered pro bono psychosocial and legal support to Mary. She took her through all the process required for medical and legal services including ensuring that her P3 form was appropriately filled. Given that often community members from Mary’s village are hesitant to be witnesses in court for fear of backlash, Caren managed to convince two of the neighbors who had helped Mary to record statements at the police station and present themselves in court as witnesses in the case. Mary’s husband was arrested and detained at the Ahero police station and later charged with assault and battery resulting in grievance bodily harm. The matter was heard in court with all witnesses giving evidence, through the support and follow-up of Caren. The Court ruled that Mary’s husband be remanded at the Kodiaga Maximum Prison as he waits for final judgment in December 2014. The community remains optimistic that Mary will get justice. According to Caren, the PIK Project paralegal training gave her a good base that has helped her successfully support many gender based violence (GBV) survivors. “Before the training, pushing such a case until justice is delivered was difficult, but through the PIK project paralegal
training I learned how to network with the community and fellow GBV paralegals,” affirms Caren. She adds: “During the training, COVAW provided us with a reporting tool which has helped us to collect and record key information about our clients that is useful during court proceedings.” Caren teamed up with nine other paralegal volunteers from within Nyando sub-county of Kisumu County, and formed a support group dubbed ‘Nyabende Support Group’. This support group provides free paralegal services to GBV survivors that included: legal advice, legal representation in courts through pro bono lawyers, witness collection and psychosocial support. “Our office receives about three cases of sexual and gender based violence (SGBV) in a day. About 60 cases that we have received from the months of January to September 2014 have been presented at the Nyando Law Courts; 10 have gone through the court process and received judgment, 32 are pending in court awaiting hearing and judgment, while the remaining cases were withdrawn from court and resolved using other alternative ways,” states Caren. PIK Project has continued to work with and build the capacity of paralegal volunteers in Kisumu, Kisii and Migori counties. Through this engagement, the volunteers have become agents of change at the grassroots level by providing free legal and psychosocial services to GBV survivors, as well as taking part in GBV community outreach and awareness raising efforts. This has facilitated access to justice and other services to GBV survivors who would otherwise have given up on their cases.
Caren Omanga and ‘Mary’ as they expose one of the scars as a result of the domestic abuse