Toll-free line to report gender-based violence for athletes launched

A hearse carrying the body of the late marathon runner Rebecca Cheptegei drives through Eldoret, western Kenya, on September 13, 2024. [AFP]

A toll-free hotline to allow athletes to report abuse cases was launched in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, on Monday as the country moves to stem rising cases of Gender-Based Violence (GBV) in sports.

The hotline, 1195, is a partnership between the National Government Affirmative Action Fund (NGAAF), Athletics Kenya, and Equity Bank.

It will allow athletes to call for help when in danger of GBV, enabling them to send an urgent SOS message for help. 

Viridiana Wasike, director of fund management services at NGAAF, told journalists that the hotline will enhance communication, the lack of which has been a significant impediment to the fight against the vice.

 "You will not be required to pay any fee to access the toll-free line. The other one is a chatbot that will allow you to send messages whenever you are in danger or going through GBV," Wasike explained.

 "Each one of us knows someone who has been hurt by GBV. We are here to have a conversation about it. We are asking everyone to lend their voices and time to this campaign," she added.

Athletics Kenya's chief administrative officer, Susan Kamau, noted that GBV is a vice that needs to be treated with the same seriousness as doping in athletics. 

"GBV is unacceptable in our society as well as in athletics. As AK, we are totally committed to eradicating GBV, and we will fight it the same way we are doing with doping," Kamau underscored. 

She encouraged athletes not to be afraid to rush to AK offices if they have been subjected to any form of GBV, with the local governing body assigning staff to deal with such cases. 

The two were speaking during the first of a week-long engagement with athletes around the country on the modalities to end GBV. 

The meetings, spearheaded by the Ministry of Gender, Culture, the Arts, and Heritage, will provide a platform for athletes to highlight their stories and experiences around GBV, resilience, and change.

Ugandan women's marathon record holder and Paris 2024 Olympian Rebecca Cheptegei is the latest high-profile athlete to perish in Kenya due to GBV after being set ablaze by her estranged lover in September. 

This followed a disturbing pattern that gathered international attention in October 2021 when 25-year-old Tokyo 2020 Olympian and former world record holder Agnes Tirop was stabbed to death by her estranged husband Ibrahim Rotich, who was charged with her murder. 

In the same month, Edith Muthoni was killed after a domestic quarrel. Her husband, Kenneth Chomba, was named the prime suspect in the killing of the 27-year-old. 

In April 2022, Damaris Mutua, a Kenyan-born female athlete running for Bahrain, was found in her room strangled to death.

An Ethiopian boyfriend who fled Kenya was named the prime suspect.