Context

Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environmental and Legal (PESTEL) Factors Analysis

This section analyses the WKF’s existing operating internal and external environment (Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environmental and Legal) and how these would impact on WKF’s performance in the Strategic Plan period 2023 – 2027. The PESTEL analysis, resulted in the identification of actors and factors with regard to sexual violence in Kenya. A brief description of these dimensions in relation to the WKF’s mandate are captured in the matrix below:

Emerging Issues

Implementation on Strategy

Mitigation and Strategy Response Measures

POLITICAL

Devolution – Services such as health are devolved and require direct engagement with the counties and where leadership changes every five years.
Corruption and Impunity – Existence of a culture of impunity where perpetrators are not held accountable.
Lack of Political Will – Lack of political good will to address sexual violence due to stereotypes and low political capital of issues.
Poor coordination of programs – Between state and non-state actors.
Conflicts and ethnic tensions –In areas prone to humanitarian crisis such as drought, famine, tribal clashes etc.
Inaccessible health facilities
– Due to distance and/or poor infrastructure.
Shrinking civic space – Occasioned by political interference with independence of civil society work.

Wider reach in the counties requiring more resources;
Need to replicate interventions whenever there are leadership changes.
Uncoordinated gender programmes at both levels of government.
Putting in place accountability measures to increase voice and action in upholding rights and responsibilities.
Inadequate action by duty bearers to address sexual violence.
Accountability and information dissemination.
Public, and private partnerships may be strained owing to competing interests;
Working groups engagements required building of teamwork and synergies on areas of mutual interest.
Safety and security for survivors and vulnerable people may be compromised.
Absence of project beneficiaries in target counties;
Conflict related sexual violence needs to be strategically addressed.
Increase in demand and low supply for sexual violence services;
Absence of professionals to provide care.
Negative and hostile working environment necessitated by negative publicity and reputation crises;
Reduction in funding streams as donors tend to pull out resources.

Resource mobilization;
Joint initiatives, strategic collaborations, partnerships and networking;
Institutionalization of working models to ensure continuity of interventions beyond programs.
Engaging in policy advocacy to adopt policies and frameworks that improve practice;
Movement and coalition building.
Community sensitization;
Lobbying and advocacy for implementation of policy framework;
Active citizen engagement for accountability.
Lobbying and Advocacy with duty bearers and build a case for sexual violence as political capital that requires action.
Joint initiatives and pooling of resources towards prevention, protection and response;
Increased partnership engagements.
Liaise with the government disaster preparedness teams for guidance of appropriate timing of activities;
Engage with community gate-keepers to advise on peaceful timelines for engagements;
Survivor-centered and trauma informed approaches must be at the core of any intervention dealing with survivors of sexual violence;
Use of early warning systems and structures.
Lobbying and advocacy;
Engage with county administration towards establishment of accessible health facilities.
Active citizen engagement/advocacy.
Lobbying and advocacy to ensure compliance with government regulation on working environment;
Work closely with development partners to hold the government accountable with regards to its commitments under national laws and policies including international instruments and treaties.

2. ECONOMIC

Economic burden – On survivors of sexual violence to rebuild after violation due to the absence of opportunities to build resilience, high cost of living, pandemics such as COVID– 19.
Lack of targeted resources
– for prevention, protection and response to sexual violence that is long term.
Prohibitive legal and medical fees – Most survivors of sexual violence cannot afford the legal fees and hefty medical costs demanded within the criminal justice system when seeking care.
Economic dependence
– Most survivors particularly from resource-constrained settings are economically dependent making them susceptible to further abuse.
Poverty – acts As a contributing factor where families have to prioritize basic needs against the call to act on violations that have no reparations.

Legal aid support for survivors.
Need for tailor-made economic empowerment models for supporting survivors of violence.
Resource mobilization for long term support for sexual violence survivors.
Rights literacy (access to justice is everyone’s rights and legal fees should not impede access to justice but lacks a framework for its enforcement)
Legal aid to those most vulnerable may be out of reach for most poor communities
Beneficiaries may become grounded by relying on outside support with no sense of ownership;
Need to enhance survivors’ agency, voice and choice.
Economic empowerment program may be challenging to implement where collateral is expected or where there is no economic growth.

Develop and implement an economic empowerment program that is specific to the needs of survivors of sexual violence including during crises.
Lobbying and advocacy for resource allocation to ensure access to justice.
Lobbying and advocacy for gender-responsive budgeting (including targeted resources to curb sexual violence) that is long-term.
Joint initiatives, strategic collaborations, partnerships and networking; that give effect to access to quality legal aid and representation services using the national legal aid act;
WKF to provide free legal aid and seek long-term resources to support those unable to afford it.
Need to encourage community ownership of interventions;
Socio-economic empowerments measures should be put in place to guard against resource dependency.
Economic empowerment models should be informed by evidence-based models to ensure they work to improve livelihoods.

3. SOCIAL

Illiteracy and ignorance – The need to understand and address sexual violence is low.
Intersectionality, inclusivity and diversity – Being nascent concepts, they tend to be somehow difficult to understand and unpack in communities.
Gender disparities – Are deeply rooted in communities and therefore they are unwilling to change.
Religious and cultural extremism
– Religious and cultural beliefs take precedence over the fight against sexual violence.

The strategy may be challenging to be understood by all beneficiaries and thus require concerted efforts and context specific approaches.
Sensitization and awareness on the concepts of human rights by simplifying the terms in a language that beneficiaries understand.
Awareness levels may vary on the gender issues;
Disaggregated data may be unavailable;
Social acceptance of inequalities as a way of life.
Countering social norms may prove challenging and paradigm shifts may take time;
Need to engage with religious, traditional and cultural leaders and protagonists.

Sensitization and awareness creation and encouraging communities to link with education sector agencies to improve learning and skills building in formal and informal settings.
Collaboration with feminist movements.
Resource mobilization;
Rights literacy to build capacity and knowledge on the concepts of human rights and social justice advocacy.
Lobbying and Advocacy using gender lens;
Data analysis to develop data disaggregated data;
Male engagement interventions are key to changing social norms.
Lobbying and Advocacy working with cultural gatekeepers who are influential and able to shift norms.
Male engagement programs ensure their meaningful engagement and participation.

4. TECHNOLOGICAL

Information Security & Management – Knowledge may be low in diverse communities.
Regulatory framework – On information and technology to guard against abuse must be enhanced.
Intellectual property – People’s rights (particularly) to ownership of work done and their privacy must be respected.
The lifecycle of technology – Is limited and new waves are always upcoming requiring new strategies.
Skills and innovation – Required that understands the use and abuse of technology to make it useful.
Online sexual exploitation, harassment and abuse – Is becoming increasingly difficult to deal with. Revictimization of survivors of sexual violence, human rights defenders supporting them and backlash from online users must be addressed and perpetrators of such violence held accountable.
Data Analytics –
required to inform knowledge on prevalence and types of violations. This will help in setting priority areas for interventions.

Need to embrace use of technology and safeguards for privacy in data collection, processing including enhancing safety and security of online users.
Knowledge of the legal frameworks and how it can be used for protection is low.
Protection of rights remains a challenge as people are often hoodwinked.
Decision-making time- lines require constant learning on how to engage with emerging technology.
Service delivery keeps changing seeking ways to use new technology is imperative.
Monitoring of effective technologies and information to inform what is most appropriate for WKF work.
Stakeholders’ awareness and engagement may be low due to lack of knowledge on dealing with online sexual violence.
Knowledge and skills required on how to capture evidence regarding online abuse.
Monitoring and evaluation of online abuse for data collection, analysis and action;
Ensuring access to comprehensive care and support services for survivors physically and online is necessary.
Knowledge and skills in appropriate ethical data collection processing and storage methods.
Data analysis tools that are standardized to inform data collection and analysis.

Awareness and sensitization on the use of citizen-generated data.
Research programs.
Knowledge management systems.
Appropriate Information Security Management (ISM) policies and regulatory frame- work.
Lobbying and advocacy.
Awareness creation and sensitization.
Rights literacy.
Awareness and sensitization.
Media engagement and advocacy.
Lobbying and advocacy.
Analysis of new technologies and identifying areas of commonality that can be tailor-made to suit work on addressing sexual violence.
Quick uptake (respond appropriately to new and emerging technology).
Capacity building for staff and partners.
Innovative tools development and adaptation.
Knowledge generation, management and communication.
Stakeholder engagement to identify ways of strengthening existing laws in addressing online abuse.
Regulatory legal framework needs to be understood for survivors to use it to report cases.
WKF’s Toll-free line 1519 and the SV_CaseStudy Mobile Application to collect data on online abuse and prevalence to inform advocacy interventions;
Provision of appropriate information regarding online abuse and how to intervene.
Research to be used to provide data and inform on priority advocacy interventions.
Tools development to adhere to professional ethics in collection and use.
Information dissemination to wider audiences.

5. ENVIRONMENTAL

Climate change – May increase opportunities for sexual abuse brought by dualities of humanitarian crisis.
Pandemics and calamities – Pandemics can break down social infrastructure, compounding existing weaknesses in conflict and disaster settings. This
may affect work environment of WKF having to adhere to mandatory government guidelines.

Increase in cases of sexual violence due to dualities of crisis and increased vulnerability.
Resource allocation towards addressing dual crisis.
Environmental sustainability necessary to avert crisis.
Pandemics may lead to increased family separation,intra-familial violence, and exposure to unsafe conditions, including sexual violence as they seek to obtain basic goods, including food, firewood, and water.
New and emerging forms of sexual violence emerge as communities manage pandemics and calamities;
Programming interference including resource constraints.

Survivor support is necessary to deal with humanitarian crisis as well as violations.
Economic empowerment is required for humanitarian response.
Resource mobilization to be increased towards dealing with dual crisis.
Work closely with the governments (national & county) to advise on appropriate ways of handling pandemics.
Strategic and targeted resource mobilization to be sourced to support necessary adjustments occasioned by pandemics and calamities.
Survivor support is necessary to deal with dual crises;
Expand shelter and temporary housing for survivors. Ensure pandemic-safe surge housing is available for vulnerable people, especially women and children at high risk of sexual violence in their homes.

6. LEGAL

Legal frameworks – Such as Sexual Offences Act (SOA), 2006; Children’s Act, 2022; Persons With Disabilities Act, 2003; HIV & AIDS Prevention and Control Act, 2006; Employment Act, 2007; Counter Trafficking in Persons Act, 2010; Witness Protection Act 2010; Victims Protection Act 2014; Protection Against Domestic Violence Act (PADV), 2015; Legal Aid Act, 2016; Protection Against Torture Act (PATA), 2017; Computer Misuse and Cyber Crimes Act, 2018; Data Protection Act, 2019. The laws have gaps on protection of survivors. There is fear of pushback with retrogressive judgements that roll-back the progress in laws and their implementation.
Constitutional and legal framework amendments
– That remove safeguards in existing laws that protect survivor.
Backlash/ Repression
– From political actors interested in protecting perpetrator.
New laws and policies –
Necessary to be informed of any amendments and/or improvements on existing laws to protect survivor.
Conflicting laws
– That require revision and harmonization to bring them up to date on survivor-entered protection.
Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) –
Wrongly used to adjudicate cases of sexual violence such as the use of `Kangaroo` courts where criminal cases stigmatize survivors rather that prescribe punitive action commensurate to the crime.

Accountability measures to be put in place to safeguard on laws;
Community engagement and sensitization to engage in safeguarding the gains made as part of advocacy agenda.
Rights literacy to enhance advocacy on laws and their implementation.
Monitoring, Evaluation and Accountability necessary check and balance on law implementation.
Consolidating and safeguarding gains through working with allies in the legislative arms of government.
Lengthy court processes that affect access to justice.
Awareness raising in new laws for public understanding and utilization.
Need for new strategies of engagement with legislators and like-minded actors to ensure harmonization of the laws and compliance with constitutional safeguards.
Establishment of a responsive judicial system that responds to civil matters.

Joint initiatives, strategic collaborations, partnerships and networking on advocacy to safeguard protection measures in existing laws;
Resource mobilization to support advocacy on improvements to existing laws and regulations.
Lobbying and Advocacy with like-minded agencies to increase support to counter repressive and retrogressive judgements.
Lobbying and Advocacy with legislators to enhance constitutionalism.
Awareness raising and sensitization on the importance of safeguarding protection measures in frameworks.
Joint initiatives, strategic collaborations, partnerships and networking with like-minded partners.
Lobbying and advocacy using constitutional safeguards and promotion of survivor protection using the laws and regulations to facilitate access to justice by fast-tracking cases of sexual violence.
Awareness raising and sensitization on any new laws and policies for public understanding and utilization.
Lobbying and Advocacy to ensure new laws safeguard the rights and responsibilities of right holders and more on survivors.
Awareness raising and sensitization on usage of ADR as an alternative criminal justice mechanism and proper understanding of Legal aid Act and its provisions on use of ADR and diversion clauses.
Lobbying and advocacy on improvements in implementation of ADR mechanism and discourage use of `Kangaroo` courts.

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Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environmental and Legal (PESTEL) Factors Analysis

Category

Emerging Issues

Implementation on Strategy

Mitigation and Strategy Response Measures

POLITICAL

2. ECONOMIC

3. SOCIAL

4. TECHNOLOGICAL

5. ENVIRONMENTAL

6. LEGAL

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