Background and Justification:• The enactment of gender responsive laws and the

constitution in Kenya has herald a new impetus in guaranteeing women’s rights. However, the big challenge remain in the implementation of the existing laws. Duty bearers who are often men in some of the government institutions harbor negative attitudes towards women and girls and may be a stumbling block in the implementing the existing laws.

• Domestic Violence is a major obstacle in advancing the social wellbeing of men, women, boys and girls in many communities in Kenya.

• Acts of domestic violence are the most common , widespread and occur in confines of the home even though it impacts on the public.

• Women and girls suffer irreversible consequences of domestic violence including death.

Background and Justification:• From an early age, boys are socialized into gender roles

designed to keep men in power, while girls are socialized into submissive and subordinate roles. We re-socialize men to use their power to prevent domestic violence while women must be able to demand a violence free life.

• Men are the majority perpetrators while women are the survivors or victims of domestic violence. Men often fail to acknowledge that in the process of violating women and girls, they also get affected by the consequences of domestic violence.

• As the main perpetrators, men must be at the fore in offering solutions to ending domestic violence.

• hence the need to empower individual men and men dominated institutions to end domestic violence.

Vision: a peaceful coexistence between men and women at home

Goal:

Mission: “moving men and boys from perpetrators to advocates of domestic violence free relationships”

Goal:

Goal: Engaging men and boys to lead the transformation of norms, practices and attitudes that perpetuate domestic violence in Kenya;

Objectives:By 2016 MAIN will have:•Re- socialized Kenyan men and women, boys and girls engaging in dialogue to prevent domestic conflicts in five counties in Kenya; •Engaged religious and cultural leading communities in transforming outdated norms, practices and beliefs that are repugnant to equality of men and women in 5 counties in Kenya; •Trained men reaching out to their peers with correct information and knowledge on domestic violence in 5 counties in Kenya; • Domesticated laws by the government of Kenya promoting equality in treatment of men and women in Kenya;•Strengthened institutional capacity of MAIN fulfilling its core mandate;

 

Strategies: ⃝� men and Community

empowerment

�Advocacy �Human rights programming

�Knowledge sharing �Behavior Change Communication � Monitoring and evaluation

Activities:⃝� Inter gender

Community Dialogues

�County Gender Camps �Psychosocial Support �Marriage school �Advocacy Missions �Responsible

fatherhood and SRHR

�Public Interest Litigation �Training and sensitization

Target:⃝� Men in organised groups

� Individuals � Matatu touts,

�Bodaboda operators, �Cultural Leaders and gatekeepers, �male politicians, � women and girls, � Religious Leaders

Where We Work

MAIN is targeting five counties though we also work in other counties with strategic partnerships;

• Nyeri and Kiambu – working with men to eradicate alcoholism for quality relationship s and violence free life;

• National – working on advocacy activities with parliament, line ministries and national events;

• Nairobi – Dandora, Korogocho Dagoretti and Mukuru slums targeting teenage male youth to combat gang rape and defilement of girls and women;

• Homabay, Kisumu and Siaya – Targeting cultural and religious leaders in promoting sexual and reproductive health rights for women and girls in order to combat HIV spread and infection;

Outputs • Trained 100 Men including touts and boda-boda motorcycle operators from Gatanga, Thika and

Kisumu on dialogue skills with 30 female students from colleges to undertake the strip me not for women using the Inter gender Dialogues. As a result, there are no new cases of women and girls being stripped in public in the target towns;

• Increased awareness on domestic violence among men together with other stakeholders in the Million Fathers Campaign. This mobilized a total of 25000 men from Mombasa, Nyeri, Nairobi and Nakuru to join the movement to end all forms of violence against women and girls. The movement managed to register top political leaders from these regions to commit to lead efforts to end violence against women;

• Engaged religious and cultural leaders on SRHR in Homabay as a local implementing partners in the project aimed at empowering religious and cultural leaders in leading efforts to change cultural practices like widow cleansing that predispose the community to HIV infection;

• Participated in the development of the national gender based violence policy in conjunction with the Ministry of Devolution – Directorate of Gender. MAIN is a member of the CSO pushing for the passing of the domestic violence bill which is in the last reading in parliament of Kenya. ;

• Lead CSO as a resident of Embakasi during the national launch of the 16 days of activism 2013 that took place in the constituency ;

• Participated in the Justice for Liz campaign where four men defiled a minor in Busia the efforts mobilized more than one million signatures from around the world and the push for legal redress in Kenya. Added the men’s voice in the BringBackOurGirls global campaign to demand the release of more than 250 girls who were taken by Boko Haram militia group in Nigeria;

Impact in motion:

Challenges:• Negative socialization of men and boys is done through a long

process. To deconstruct the attitudes and beliefs, interventions require time and resources to achieve. This require time and long term partnerships and investment in human and financial resources. Most existing partnerships are short term and might come to an end before the real change is achieved in the target communities. Most men led initiative have little funding for core support and only depend on the activity grants to survive. This has affected their growth and survival;

• Power struggles between religious, cultural and government institutions in the approach to women’s rights has created a loophole as an excuses by people who perpetuate domestic violence. When the three institutions work together they present a stronger front in combating domestic violence;

• Lack or low reporting has affected the implementation of the existing laws through the court. Often when survivors push for legal redress, the community and people around them push for out of court settlement of cases of domestic violence;

Membership and Peers:• We Can Campaign • GBV-Prevention Network – Raising

Voices• Africa UNiTE Kenya• National GBV working group-NGEC• MACS coalition on RMNCH – FCI• Million Fathers Movement – GVRC• Stripe me not Campaign

Conclusion:• A prevention-based approach to domestic

violence addresses the unequal power relations between men and women. Moreover, prevention of domestic violence is in the long term is more effective and sustainable than addressing the effects and consequences of domestic violence as it tackles the root causes of violence.

• Men are able to group and together pursue concerns around issues of mutual interest. Men have been identified as the major culprits in domestic violence, an image that is not complimentary given that majority of men do not consider themselves violators of girls and women. Men as husbands, fathers, sons, brothers, responsible citizens and equal partners with women have a role to play in ensuring the prevention of domestic violence. With awareness, sensitivity and advocacy skills, they can effectively reach other men to tell them that domestic violence is an affront to masculinity.

Asante Sana