The Contribution of Male Champions to the Efforts Against Gender Based Violence in Kamukunji Sub-county

Abstract

The engagement of boys and men is important in the prevention and response to Gender-Based violence (GBV). The purpose of this research was to assess the contribution of male champions to the efforts against gender based violence in Kamukunji sub-county. The specific objectives included: to assess the attitudes of the male champions on social norms that encourage and condone GBV, describe the activities carried out by the male champions towards fighting GBV and determine how the male champions respond to GBV. A structured interview questionnaire was administered to 30 male champions selected through purposive sampling. Key informants validated information given by the male champions. Outputs were presented in the form of tables, charts and figures for quantitative data and qualitative data was analyzed thematically, where topics, ideas, and patterns of meaning that came up repeatedly were grouped together to produce themes necessary for discussion. The study findings show that all the male champions had knowledge on what GBV entails including the forms of GBV and disagreed with the social norms that encourage and condone gender based violence. The male champions engaged in various activities in the fight against GBV including being role models by practicing non-violent expressions of masculinity and believed they were capable of supporting victims/survivors of violence. In addition, they were aware of the GBV referral pathway and more than half of them had ever reported a GBV case at the police station or at the chief‗s office. The study recommends that community outreaches should be increased to help tackle attitudes that promote GBV by engaging more boys and men at an early age in the fight against GBV. Both males (boys and men) and females (girls and women) should work together in the fight against GBV because it affects all gender groups in all spheres of life.