Bomet WHRDs mobilize to combat rampant GBV and rights violations

Bomet County's Women Human Rights Defenders have benefited from a three-day training focused on addressing the rampant human rights violations plaguing the county.

The intensive program was spearheaded by the Women Human Rights Defenders Hub (WHRDs) which aims at ensuring the rights violations are addressed in the society.

Speaking on Tuesday, December 2, 2025 during the second day of the training, Lidia Chepngetich, who led the Bomet chapter, emphasized the severity of the challenges they have been facing at the county level.

She noted that the defenders were trained specifically on widespread cases of violations targeting vulnerable groups in the county.

"We were trained on the rampant cases of violations that we have been talking about in Bomet targeted to children, women, and the aged in the society,” Chepngetich said.

Chepngetich highlighted a particularly alarming trend on the violations that has been leading in Bomet county.

"Bomet County has been leading in cases of gender-based violence (GBV), and therefore there is a great need to address them."

The training brought together human rights defenders from all five sub-counties of Bomet, aiming to foster a collaborative approach involving the wider community in the fight against violence.

Chepngetich stressed the fundamental importance of human rights literacy at the community level urging that citizens should recognize universal rights.

"The community should understand that a right to one human being is a right to anyone in our society."

She added, "Culture is a barrier to fighting violence in the county and we must address it."

Anna Sitonik from Chepalungu urged the residents to speak up on the issues facing them in order to be addressed.

She further appealed to the government to empower the boy child in the society noting that recently they have been neglected yet they are facing a lot of violations.

Sitonik said each gender should be empowered equally in order to avoid disparities in society.

“I want to appeal to the government to keep empowering the boy child since they have been neglected yet they are facing violations that need to be addressed,” Mrs. Sitonik said.

She added, “Our people should understand the correct procedures of reporting violations, others have been assuming that they have reported yet they addressed their issues to irrelevant offices.”

Governor Barchok while speaking on Thursday, November 27, 2025, during the first day of the 16 Days of Activism, he noted that Bomet County is leading in the country with the cases on GBVs and therefore, there is a need to establish such facilities and appeal to the public to end it at grassroots levels.

He said that in the last nine months of the year 2024, Bomet county recorded a total number of 4365 cases of teenage pregnancies representing 18% of the girls aged 15 – 19 years making it an alarming rate.

He added that such high numbers can be reduced if we all stand in solidarity to champion for the sexual assaults and violation of our teenage.