Anti- gender based violence (GBV) activists have come out to offer support to a Mombasa based female police officer whose video went viral last week asking the inspector general of police to accept her resignation letter.

The activists offered to give the officer attached to the traffic department free psychological counselling and promised to assist her pursue the case.

In the viral video, the female cop was seen complaining of sexual harassment and discrimination by senior officers in the police service.

In an interview with Ommy Dallah, the activists led by Topista Juma of Muhuri congratulated her for coming out to air the challenges female officers go through while on duty.

They encouraged other officers going through similar and other dire situations to come out and ask for help saying that there are many cases which have gone unreported.

“I would like to ask officers going through depression or any form of violence to come out and ask for help. We have seen cases of officers committing suicide and murder because of depression and because of this we are ready to offer free psychological support and counselling,” said Topista.

Last week Inspector General of police Hilary Mutyambai ordered for investigations after the video officer alleging unfair treatment and sexual harassment went viral on social media.

“I have directed the Gender and Children Directorate to independently investigate the matter and give a report within 7 days,” he said on Twitter.

Muhuri has partnered with the county government of Mombasa through their departments on gender based violence to launch a hotline for reporting the cases (0800720587).

According to their records, their GBV desk has been receiving more than a hundred cases related to gender violence every month since the advent of the corona pandemic last year.

From March to December last year, they received more than 350 cases related to gender violence and defilement of minors.

Most of the cases were reported to have come from Junda and Mshomoroni areas in Kisauni Sub-county, Kisumu ndogo in Nyali while a number of cases from Mvita and Likoni go unreported hence hindering justice to the victims.

“We had many cases reported from Junda, mshomoroni and kisumu ndogo areas. However there were several cases in Mvita and Likoni which were unreported as concerned parties resolved to settle for an out of court settlement,” said Topista.

Topista also reported that there were many cases of men being battered by their wives during the pandemic period but were afraid to report due to stigma from society.

This she said led to many suffering in silent while others got depressed a matter that she said can be resolved by encouraging men to come out and not be afraid to call for help.

“Our hotline received a lot of calls from men reporting they had been abused by their spouses. We were able to counsel them and also helped fix several marriages during the pandemic,” added Topista.

Muhuri  established a GBV desk outside the Mombasa Law Courts while the department of gender in Mombasa county opened up a situation room in Tononoka social hall where citizens can report cases of gender based violence.