Red Cross Holds Psychosocial Training To Empower Stakeholders On Handling GBV Cases
It is key to understand the psychosocial background of any survivor or suspect of sexual gender-based violence before drawing any medical or legal conclusions.
This was accentuated during a 2-day training on psychosocial first aid at Chwele in Bungoma County.
The training that brought together Mt. Elgon health practitioners and the security team from the Kenya Police Service was based on individual and group counseling support for sexual gender-based violence suspects and survivors.
“It is very delicate to deal with children in this state, but when you apply the first aid tips herein, the survivors will heal quicker by opening up their feelings and letting go of the emotional trauma,” explained David Wataka, the training facilitator.
The key aspects to note were scanning, assessing, responding, and later analyzing both the survivor and the alleged suspects.
The challenge that was raised in most cases was a lack of supportive responses from stakeholders who were the first contact for the survivors.
“At times, the survivor is in first contact with the police, who might bring them to the hospital without clothes. After attending to them, we’re supposed to release them, but they lack clothes to cover them,” one nurse pointed out.
A police officer on his part responded, “It will be humane if we try our best as the first respondents to cater for such survivors since we have no finances allocated to such incidences; however, we beseech well-wishers and our donors to incorporate this into future aid.”
With the soaring cases of teenage pregnancies in Mt. Elgon, Evans Nyakundi insisted on the control theory of a child, which he said plays a critical role when they reach puberty.
“Not only should we focus on teens experiencing abusive relationships when they visit hospitals, but we should also take a step as stakeholders to visit schools and even hold training with parents to teach them the best way to bring up children for them to become better adults,” reiterated Nyakundi.
The police officers and health care providers were also advised to prioritize self-care so as to provide quality psychosocial care to survivors of sexual gender-based violenc
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