SAUTI MTAANI: From Community Voices to Action on Gender-Based Violence

Gender-based violence is often discussed through statistics, policies and institutional reports. But behind every statistic is a person; someone who experienced violence, made the difficult decision to report it, and then had to navigate a complex system in search of safety, justice and support.

SAUTI MTAANI is bringing that experience to the centre of the conversation.

Through the campaign, community-based organizations and Social Justice Centres in Nairobi West region, namely: Kibera Social Justice Center, Dagoretti Social Justice Center, Ngando Social Justice Center and Chaplaincy Hope Social Justice Center and Voices of Dagoretti, have come together to undertake research examining the gaps in understanding and responding to Gender-Based Violence (GBV).

At the heart of the initiative is a simple but important question:

What does the GBV response system look like from the eyes of the person who has experienced violence?

Listening from the ground

GBV response is often assessed from the perspective of institutions: whether reporting mechanisms exist, whether referral pathways are available, whether services have been established and whether policies are in place.

But the experience of a survivor can be very different.

For someone experiencing GBV, the journey may involve deciding whether to report, identifying where to seek help, overcoming fear and stigma, finding the right institution, explaining what happened, following up on a case and navigating different service providers.

A system may exist on paper, yet remain difficult to access in practice.

SAUTI MTAANI seeks to capture this difference.

Rather than looking at GBV response only from the perspective of institutions and service providers, the research places community experiences at the centre. It seeks to understand the challenges people encounter when they attempt to report GBV and access support, justice and protection.

This distinction matters.

There is a difference between researching a system from the outside and understanding that system through the experience of the person who has had to use it.

Turning lived experiences into evidence

The participating Social Justice Centres and Voices of Dagoretti have already collected data through the initiative.

The next step is to use that evidence to identify the gaps that require attention and determine areas where advocacy can make a difference.

The objective is not simply to produce another research document.

The evidence generated through SAUTI MTAANI can help communities and their organizations ask more specific questions about the GBV response: Where are survivors experiencing barriers? Where are referral systems failing? What information is missing? What services are difficult to access? Where is institutional coordination weak? And what changes are required to make the response more accessible and survivor-centred?

These are questions that can help transform community experiences into an evidence-based advocacy agenda.

Why community-generated evidence matters

Community Justice Centres occupy a unique position in the justice ecosystem.

They are rooted in communities and often become some of the first places where people can seek information, document violations, receive referrals and understand their rights.

This proximity means they encounter experiences that may never make it into official statistics.

Some survivors may never formally report. Others may report but abandon the process. Some may encounter barriers that prevent them from accessing legal, medical or psychosocial support.

These experiences matter because what is not documented can easily remain invisible.

SAUTI MTAANI therefore creates an opportunity to bring those experiences into a wider conversation about policy, services, accountability and access to justice.

From voice to advocacy

The name SAUTI MTAANI — the voice from the neighbourhood — captures the philosophy behind the initiative.

The campaign is not simply about speaking on behalf of communities. It is about creating space for communities to generate evidence from their own experiences and use that evidence to influence the conversations and decisions that affect them.

The data collected can help identify practical areas for advocacy — from improving reporting mechanisms and referral pathways to strengthening access to legal assistance, survivor support and accountability.

It can also help decision-makers understand that GBV is not merely a policy issue or a statistic.

It is experienced in homes, workplaces, neighbourhoods and communities.

The real measure of a response

The existence of a reporting mechanism does not, by itself, tell us whether the system is working.

The more important question is what happens to the person who uses it.

Does the survivor receive information?

Are they treated with dignity?

Can they access the services they need?

Are they able to pursue justice without unnecessary barriers?

And does the system provide meaningful protection and support?

These are the questions that SAUTI MTAANI seeks to bring to the forefront.

By combining community knowledge, research and advocacy, the initiative creates a bridge between lived experience and evidence-based action.

Because communities should not only be the subjects of research.

They should also be producers of knowledge about the challenges they face — and active participants in shaping the solutions.

SAUTI MTAANI is about listening to the voices from the ground, documenting what those voices reveal, and using that evidence to demand better systems of protection, response and justice.

The voice of the community must not end at being heard. It must become evidence for change.