Even though I have never watched even one episode of “Keeping up with the Kardashians”, I have heard a lot about the Kardashians, because my fellow Ugandans chatter a lot about them. And in particular, Kim Kardashian and her then husband Kanye West. I clearly remember when they visited Uganda, after all, they were received and hosted by the first family.

I remember how some Ugandans were disappointed with the real Kim, because they thought she didn’t look all jazzed up like the one on screen. Well, now I am beginning to wonder if by the time Kim and Kanye visited Uganda, she had already been subjected to significant domestic gender based violence (GBV) and that much as she tried, she really couldn’t look jazzy enough for Ugandans.

Probably, moreover, it could be that she had been forced to come to Uganda with Kanye, in order to keep up appearances. That is the real tragedy. Victims of domestic GBV are so terrified that it is often the case that they suffer in silence. Tormentors get away with it, because the norm is for society to give them the power – male privilege – to get away with it. Just go to social media and see how Kanye is threatening Kim in the open and without serious deterring consequence to him.

After the death of my father, in 2020, I am such a victim of GBV, but from an angle less reported in the media – sibling on sibling GBV. If I did not have people who are calling out my tormentor, I do not know where I would be now. People who are calling him out, include those I did not know personally prior, but who knew my father. They came to my aid and helped me – both men and women – just by calling out my tormentor.

It hurts me so much that among my tormentor’s supporters are women for whom I held high regard and considered among my loved ones. Turns out they are she-devils with psychopathic tendencies and are my worst enemies. And then there are those women holding positions from which they draw salaries from the taxes that I pay and who could have helped me, but they instead sided with my tormentor; likely, because of illicit financial gain to them. I mean how else can you justify it but greed.

I feel for Kim and her loved ones. And I am grateful to every single person that is calling out Kanye. It is important for victims of domestic gender based violence to know that the majority are good people and that it is the tormentors that are the deviants. So, please, when you see it and recognize it, raise your voice loud and call out domestic GBV. Your voice could be all the victim needs to hear to get the courage to fight back and become a victor.