How NOC-K plans to tighten noose around preparators of sexual abuse within Kenyan sports

Cases of female athletes being sexually abused have become rampant in Kenya but NOC-K is now coming up with ways to give victims a voice while dealing with the perpetrators.

National Olympics Committee of Kenya (NOC-K) has started an initiative aimed at providing safe spaces for women in sports who suffer sexual harassment.

There have been several incidents of sexual harassment among various sports disciplines in the country that only end with the perpetrators being suspended while others go unreported.

This is because most victims fear the repercussions as their abusers are mostly men who hold influential positions in their sports but now, the NOC-K gender commission is seeking a way in which they can have a voice without feeling like they will lose their places in the sport.

“As a NOC-K commission that just handles a few sports, it is something we are trying to bring on the table because we have received so many complaints of sexual harassment and what we first want to do is to work on the policies that can guide that,” said Kenya Judo Federation Secretary General Joan Githua, who is a member of the Gender Commission at NOC-K.

“We are going out to work with the Ministry of Sports, we are hoping to get an idea of a safe space where the women can come and report these sexual harassments without any discrimination.

“As a NOC-K commission, we are only 29 and all the other sports are locked out. Even before the policies are done, as women, we have to come together and ask the Ministry of Sports to create a safe space for women to report gender violence because they have become very rampant. This is because there is that loophole where there is nowhere to report and the perpetrators are running away with it.”

The commission, however, feels while having a policy on sexual harassment will provide the victims with a place to report, the Sports Ministry should also have a department that can help victims handle such cases since most of them lack the requisite knowledge and resources.

“We can arrest them but before that, the ministry should have a safe haven where it can be held as an emergency because these girls do not even have money for advocates so it is us the women who should talk to the ministry to have that department that should handle these cases with experts and counsellors so that when they are reported, they handled at this level,” added Githua.

Githua is also advocating for the inclusion of women in positions of power at various federations while calling on the ministry to have data of all those handling athletes.

“The federations should have the right people training athletes, at the same time, when you bring your girl to these sports, do your due diligence. Right now, the ministry is taking data for these coaches so if they violate a girl, there is data and they can be struck off from coaching,” said Githua.

“The other issue is we have so many clubs and it is difficult to follow how they are run. We have one-man shows at some clubs and men coaching women. This needs to change so that we have women also involved in higher positions at the federations.”

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