AWARENESS OF GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE INTERVENTIONS AMONG WOMEN OF REPRODUCTIVE AGE IN KIBERA INFORMAL SETTLEMENTS

Gender-based violence (GBV) is a major worldwide public health concern which is quite prevalent with domestic violence being voiced as the most common (WHO, 2020). According to WHO (2020), at least 1 in 3 women have experience physical or sexual violence. A study by NCRC (2020) showed cases of gender- based violence in Kenya reported between January and June, 2020 (that is 2,032) are way above the total numbers reported between January and December, 2019 (that is 1,057), representing 92.2% increase and confirming an escalation of incidents (NCRC, 2020). Kibera slum is not spared from GBV cases and other public health issues. A cross-section study was designed to determine the level of awareness of the available GBV interventions among women of reproductive age in Kibera slums and to determine the factors associated with awareness of available GBV interventions offered to women of reproductive age in Kibera slums, the second largest slums in Sub-Saharan Africa. The data was collected with a questionnaire from a sample of 390 interviewees. The findings showed that only 9 (2.3%) which is a small percentage had adequate awareness of the types of interventions that were available for GBV while 112 (28.7%) were not aware of any GBV interventions. The age, education level, occupation, affordability, accessibility, cultural factors, and acceptability of the services were the factors associated with the awareness of available GBV interventions. The study recommended the training of the public and private sectors on the importance of the GBV interventions so as to ensure that the survivors are attended to early enough to curb long- term consequences and that the perpetrators are punished for the vice and there is also a need to raise the women of Kibera slums from low socio-economic status which make them susceptible to and victims of GBV.