Gender-Based Violence (GBV) in Kenya is still largely understood and addressed through a narrow lens, and the numbers coming out of the courts between 2022 and 2025 make that painfully clear.
According to the data from the Kenyan Judiciary’s Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) Strategy 2023–2030, courts handled 28,146 GBV-related cases during this period.
Of these, 20,013 cases were resolved, leaving thousands still pending. However, the types of cases dominating the system reveal a limited definition of what violence looks like in practice.
The majority of reported and prosecuted cases fall under physical and sexual violence. Grievous harm leads with 17,712 filed cases, followed by defilement at 8,071 cases, and rape at 1,029 cases.
Other reported offenses include assault (133), incest (326), indecent or unnatural acts (575), sexual assault (211), and kidnapping or abduction (89).
What stands out is not just what is present in the data but what is missing.
Forms of GBV such as economic abuse, emotional and psychological violence, cyber harassment, and structural or institutional violence are largely absent from court statistics.
This absence does not suggest these abuses are rare. Instead, it reflects how they are overlooked, normalized, or not recognized as GBV within communities and justice systems.
Stakeholder consultations across counties reveal that GBV is often understood strictly as physical harm, particularly violence against women and girls.
Survivors themselves describe GBV as beatings or extreme acts, reinforcing a definition that sidelines less visible but ongoing harm occurring in homes, relationships, and public spaces.
This narrow understanding has direct consequences. Survivors experiencing non-physical forms of violence are less likely to report, less likely to receive justice, and more likely to remain invisible in national statistics.
As a result, prevention strategies and response mechanisms remain limited, fragmented, or inappropriate.
The data also challenges the perception that GBV affects only women and girls. Stakeholders report rising cases of violence against men and boys, including sodomy and defilement, with some abuses increasingly occurring within homes rather than public spaces. Yet these experiences remain minimized and underrepresented.
Beyond traditional forms of GBV, emerging trends are reshaping the landscape. Technology-facilitated gender-based violence including cyberstalking, online harassment, digital surveillance, and non-consensual sharing of intimate images is becoming more prevalent, particularly targeting women in public life such as journalists, activists, and content creators.
Despite its psychological impact, much of this violence goes unreported and unprosecuted.
Another alarming trend is the normalization of extreme violence, including femicide. These killings often occur within intimate or familial relationships and are preceded by patterns of coercion, threats, and abuse.
The lack of a specific legal definition for femicide and gaps in victim protection allow many cases to fall through the cracks, reinforcing cycles of silence and impunity.
At the same time, public awareness and reporting of GBV are increasing. National campaigns, civil society advocacy, and social media activism have contributed to greater visibility.
However, stigma, fear of retaliation, and weak protection systems continue to prevent many survivors, especially in rural and marginalized communities from seeking help.
Efforts to respond are evolving. Policy and legislative reforms, integration of GBV response in humanitarian settings, and digital reporting tools such as mobile apps and SMS hotlines are expanding access to support.
Still, data gaps remain a critical challenge, with limited disaggregation by age, disability, location, or other vulnerabilities, leaving many survivors unseen.
Ultimately, the statistics show that Kenya’s GBV response is shaped as much by what is counted as by what is ignored. As long as violence is defined narrowly, many survivors will continue to exist outside the justice system unheard, unprotected, and unrecorded.
