Effectiveness of State and Non-State Actors’ Initiatives in Addressing the Economic Empowerment Needs of Women Survivors of Gender-Based Violence

Gender Based Violence (GBV) is a widespread human rights violation that transcends all demographic groups. In Kenya, the prevalence is over 35%. GBV constraints work, subsequently limiting women’s economic empowerment. Unfortunately, data to link GBV with survivors’ economic output is not available. The efficacy of initiatives implemented by state and non-state actors is unclear. To address this gap, the Kenyatta University Women’s Economic Empowerment Hub GBV team endeavored to establish the efficacy of the Gender-Based Violence Recovery Centre in Makueni County and the Life Bloom Services International recovery program in Naivasha, Nakuru County. It specifically sought to establish whether and how the initiatives empowered women survivors of GBV economically and contributed to their recovery. Anchored on the socio-ecological model, the study employed a mixed-methods approach to collect quantitative and qualitative data from survivors and key informants. The findings indicate that LBSI initiatives have an economic component while the GBVRC did not. Further, while both empower and contribute to survivors’ recovery, those that have an economic empowerment component are more effective since they enabled GBV survivors to make decisions that ultimately free them from further abuse. The study recommends establishment of more programmes on women’s economic empowerment for GBV survivors but with a caveat that this alone is not a panacea against GBV.