Kenya is hosting a two-day regional roundtable of Directors of public prosecutions and Inspector generals of police from the Eastern Africa region on countering emerging sexual & gender-based violence (SGBV) trends in the region.

The workshop comes at a critical point as Directors of Public Prosecutions and heads of law enforcement from the region seek to build on efforts by the countries in the region to prevent sexual and gender-based violence and trafficking in persons, especially for online and commercial sexual exploitation.

The Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) Renson Ingonga, in a speech delivered by Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Hassan Abdi, noted that his office has continued to put in measures to address and combat sexual and gender-based violence through putting in place specialized units dealing specifically with SGBV, Counter-Trafficking in Persons and Children, to prosecute these cases and provide victim support effectively.

“These units have specialized prosecutors who have been trained and continue to receive training on matters related to Technologically Facilitated Gender Based Violence (TFGBV) and trafficking in persons through skills enhancement, best practice approaches in the handling of victims, and enhancement of inter-agency collaboration,” said the DPP.

He added that the office has established child-friendly interview rooms for the examination of vulnerable witnesses ensuring that the best evidence of the victims is taken while avoiding re-traumatization of their vulnerable positions.

The DPP further noted that in the recent past, technology has been weaponized to cause harm thereby calling for a multi-thronged approach from all stakeholders such as education and awareness creation on how users can identify and report these crimes.

Ingonga added that Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and the Republic of Zanzibar have in place legal frameworks that address tech-related offences thus what needs to be improved on is defining such offences and improving on the penalties taking into consideration the impact it causes.

The DPP Uganda Lady Justice Jane Frances Abodo appreciated GIZ and Lawyers without Borders for initiating the regional roundtable adding that it is timely and good for prosecutors and investigators to have such conversations and cascade the resolutions to the grassroots towards addressing the ever-rising cases of SGBV.

The region has experienced gender-based violence with cases keeping skyrocketing especially in Uganda. She highlighted how women and girls were used as wives of the commanders of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) who treated SGBV as a normal exercise.

She added that prosecutors and investigators play a key role in addressing such crimes and should ensure the decisions they make shape the outcome of such cases. “Prosecutors and investigators play a key role in the push to reduce crimes of sexual and gender-based violence. Perpetrators of such crimes should be made accountable for what they do,” she said.

She identified the breakdown of law and order, using SGBV as a weapon of war, displacement and refugee cases, cultural norms, economic hardships, and limited access to justice as key drivers of SGBV in conflict situations. She Identified security concerns, language barriers, and delays in the criminal justice process as some of the challenges affecting the prosecution of SGBV cases arising from conflict situations in Uganda. She called for the capacity building of all stakeholders, and to ensure that survivors are afforded the dignity and support they deserve.

Ulrich Jaenen, Country Component lead, of Police Program Africa commended the DPP for the efforts taken by his office in tackling sexual and gender-based violence and called for more such regional roundtables to discuss ways of tackling human trafficking and sexual-based violence. He added that GIZ is currently focusing all efforts on addressing sexual and gender-based violence cases.

The attendees include Lady Justice Jane Frances Abodo, DPP Uganda, Sylvester Mwakitalu, DPP United Republic of Tanzania, Mgeni Checha, DPP Zanzibar, Ramadhan Kingai, DCI Tanzania, Paul Wachira, deputy DCI Kenya, Beata Chelimo, deputy DCI Uganda, prosecutors, and representatives of civil society organizations among others.