Outcome RD_D_3.1

Favorable social normal, attitudes and behaviors are promoted at communty and individual levels to prevent VAWG

The available data from Kenya Demographic and Health Survey 2014 and UN Women Kenya baseline study completed 2021, show a positive trend in terms of attitude change on percentage of people who believe that a man is justified to beat his partner under certain circumstances. The percentage in 2014 from Coast, North Eastern and Eastern was 42.66% while in 2021 it was 6.9% in Kwale, Turkana, Marsabit and Kitui Counties, which are in the same three regions. UN Women and its partners contributed to this through; first engagement of various communities while targeting specific individual groups in promoting favourable social norms, attitudes and behaviours towards the prevention of VAWG; second through supporting advocacy initiatives, awareness-raising, inter-generational dialogues, community activism and promotion of positive masculinity, through various media, reaching an estimated audience of over 6 million Kenyans (4.4m through TV,1.75m. This reach was achieved through local radio shows, music and theatre performance, 800 through webinars, and 6.750 through Youtube) and finally through enhancing capacity of various institutions to prevent VAW through engagement with both students, learning institutions management and communities which resulted in the development of policies and training on VAW prevention.

Favorable social normal, attitudes and behaviors are promoted at communty and individual levels to prevent VAWG

Sound progress has been made in promoting positive social norms, attitudes and behaviors that prevent Violence Against Women and Girls ( VAWG ) at community and individual levels in Kenya between 2019 and 2022. Less women and girls experienced violence in the communities in 2022 than in 2014 , as evidenced by the Kenya Demographic Health Survey (KDHS) , published in January 2023 . The data indicates that there is some decrease on women and girls (age 15-49) who had experienced physical and sexual violence within the past 12 (physical violence down from 20% in 2014 to 16% in 2022 2 and reported sexual violence down from 7.6% in 2014 to 6.42% in 2022 3 . In addition, the new Government of Kenya ( GoK ) and H.E. President Ruto 4 has continued the implementation the bold 12 GBV commitments made by the former President H. E . Kenyatta in the Gender Equality Forum (GEF) in 2021 to accelerate action and investments to address GBV and achieve gender equality for women and girls . This highest-level commitment has further contributed to positive trend in change of the attitudes and behavior in Keny a. F urther, as an a necdotal evidence of the attitude change in the social media , one of the 16 Days Twitter hashtags reached top ten trending list during the campaign period in 2022 . 5 ( The data on the SN indicator target 10% - Percentage of people who believe that man is justified to beat his partner under given circumstances- will be added when UN Women survey is completed in early 2023.) Despite the overall positive trend, cultural norms and gender stereotypes are still used to justify violence against women in Kenya. These norms foster a culture of abusive and harmful notions of female that have permeated into society, leading to limited implementation of laws and policies. This is also acknowledged as one of the root causes of gender inequality by the UN Common Country Analysis report . Due to the prevalence and seriousness, these issues require continuous work beyond 2022 by UN Women and other partners in Kenya. O pportunities for scaling up include the possibility to focus on counties w h ere 2022 KDHS data reveals higher negative trends on GBV, i.e. (Bungoma, Homa Bay, Migori, Baringo, Migori) and continuing to ensure that the advocacy e fforts are aligned to the international standards and lessons learned. Scaling up will require additional resource mobilization, something which UN Women will do on its own as well as through a new proposed joint programme on GBV . UN Women ensured that the community mobilization and education strategies are carried out in an integrated manner based on a shared understanding and approach in line with international standards and evidence on preventing Violence Against Women ( VAW ) at the global level. In addition, UN Women used its convening power to bring various stakeholders together in planning and implementing the advocacy in Kenya . The CSO implementing partners Action Aid, ADSOC, Wangu Kanja, Centre for Rights Education and Awareness? ( CREAW ) , World Vision, African Women's Development and Communications Network ( FEMNET ) and Gender Violence Recovery Centre ( GVRC ) implemented the activities on the ground. A ctivities contained advocacy, community meetings, support to human right defenders to enable them to handhold survivors to get essential GBV services, and training of duty bearers.