The Gender Based Violence (SGBV) activists led by Fridah Wawira Nyaga, Programs Manager Coalition on Violence Against Women (COVAW) today organised a joint civic education session which brought together 20 Paralegals, Community Champions, Journalists and survivors of SGBV from informal settlements.
The interactive session saw various key topical issues discussed among them unraveling citizen journalism and how paralegals can tap in to help, what to look out for when documenting an SGBV case which culminated in an open session between paralegals and journalists.
“The Coalition on Violence Against Women (COVAW) is a national non-governmental organization formed in 1995 in response to Kenyan society’s silence to address violence against women and girls… We endeavor to ensure access to justice for survivors of SGBV by accordingly provide pro-bono legal services scheme for lawyers and staff who represent survivors of SGBV in courts of law in Kenya through watching briefs and offering legal aid services,” observed Wawira.
The organisers alluded that the critical message points out that there has been a lot of blaming and shaming of survivors of SGBV in the media hence the need for professional journalists and citizen journalists need so as to remain objective when reporting matters concerning SGBV.
“We are looking forward to a society free from all forms of violence, equality and freedom as we sought to champion for the rights of women and girls to be free from all forms of violence so as to curb the rising numbers of SGBV in the informal settlement,” Wawira claimed.
COVAW observed key areas to look out for when documenting an SGBV case which included authenticity and originality, accuracy and use of correct language, giving the survivor a voice and not victimising them and journalists to sought expert input when reporting on a case.
The open session meeting between journalists and paralegals delved on various issues not limited to the actual experiences of paralegals in the field and journalists which highlighted bias and exaggeration in media when reporting SGBV cases.
