It is 11:28am. Rukia Godana arrives at SHOFCO gender office in the slum of Mukuru Kwa Njenga in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, panting and sweating. She has walked, jumped over raw sewage and slipped in muddy paths from the nearby Mukuru Kwa Reuben slum, situated about three kilometers away.
Rukia tells us: “I have been following up a defilement case at Mukuru Kwa Reuben. I was able to get a medical report and papers from the police which we will use to assist the victim to get justice.”
Rukia, a 34-year-old mother of two, has been on the forefront in fighting gender-based violence since 2012 in Mukuru, a sprawling slum stamped with hallmarks of poverty. Rukia is one of SHOFCO’s volunteer Gender Champions. Rukia and 11 other gender champions volunteer at SHOFCO gender program where they are addressing sexual and gender based violence (SGBV) cases across the slum. SHOFCO gender program serves communities in Mukuru, Mathare, Kibera and Bangladesh urban slums. In 2018, SHOFCO handled 1,210 SGBV cases, up from 1,138 cases the year before.
“I love children. When I see a mother cry helplessly after her child has been defiled, I am touched. Lifting their loads during such moments make me happy,” she says.
But what made her to take the path that would later make her a gender champion? “An attempted defilement case against someone close to me made me realize that many people are suffering silently and hiding. The incident made me angry and I chose to fight for the rights of those being oppressed. The positive impact of my work keeps me going,” Rukia says.
