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Ladies and feminists in Kenya will take to the streets on Saturday 27 January to march towards the rising instances of femicide. The nationwide protest, dubbed ‘Feminists March In opposition to Femicide’, will happen in 11 counties: Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu, Nakuru, Eldoret, Homabay, Turkana, Kilifi, Machakos, Kisii and Nyeri.
The protest follows a sequence of grotesque murders of girls. The newest are the murders of Starlet Wahu, 26, who was brutally murdered in a short-term rental house, and Rita Waeni, a first-year college pupil whose dismembered physique was additionally present in one other short-term rental house in Nairobi.
The murders of the 2 ladies are simply the tip of the iceberg of Kenya’s rising femicide drawback.
In 2018, Sharon Otieno, a pupil at Rongo College who was reportedly the girlfriend of Migori County Governor Okoth Obado, was discovered lifeless in a forest in Oyugis city, Homa Bay County. In 2019, Ivy Wangeci, a medical pupil, was hacked to demise by a jilted boyfriend in Eldoret.
Eunice Wangari was thrown from the balcony of a 12-storey constructing in Nairobi in 2020, and celebrated Olympic runner Agnes Tirop was allegedly stabbed to demise by her husband in 2021.
These are a number of the excessive publicised instances of femicide in Kenya. A examine performed by the Africa Knowledge Hub estimates that there will likely be round 500 femicide victims between 2016 and 2024. Research performed by UN Ladies present that Africa recorded the very best absolute variety of feminine intimate accomplice and household associated killings with an estimated 20,000 victims, adopted by 18,400 in Asia, 7,900 within the Americas, 2,300 in Europe and 200 in Oceania.
All these killings happen regardless of the existence of sturdy worldwide and nationwide authorized mechanisms to fight this heinous crime. In Kenya, the Structure of Kenya 2010 ensures that the rights of girls and ladies are protected below Article 27, and the Penal Code offers for penalties for violence towards ladies and ladies.
Regardless of this, perpetrators of most intimate accomplice violence and femicide crimes go unpunished. This prompted the primary feminist march towards femicide in Kenya. In 2019, alarmed by the rising instances of femicide and intimate accomplice violence, ladies got here collectively to demand accountability in peaceable protests throughout the nation.
This Saturday, Kenyan ladies will as soon as once more march towards the rise in femicide instances in Kenya, organising on-line below the hashtag #TotalShutdownKe.
A number of human rights organisations, together with Amnesty Worldwide, have proven their dedication and assist for the march. In an announcement launched this Friday, Amnesty Worldwide introduced that its members and workers will likely be collaborating within the march towards femicide.
We name on all Kenyans to return out and lift their voices towards the rising violence that violates worldwide and Kenyan legal guidelines and poses an existential menace to the lives of girls and ladies,” the assertion mentioned.
Leaders and human rights organisations have additionally expressed solidarity with victims and survivors of sexual and gender-based violence.
Azimio la Umoja chief Raila Odinga was among the many first leaders to precise concern over the rise in femicide instances, describing it as a “nationwide emergency” and saying that the homicide of girls and ladies shouldn’t be normalised.
“It’s unhappy to see a troubling improve within the deaths of younger ladies, leaving a path of grief for households and mates. The abnormality of those murders can not turn into the brand new regular. Homicide is and can all the time be improper, and there’s no excuse,” Mr Odinga mentioned.
Gender Cupboard Secretary Aisha Jumwa additionally known as for investigations into current acts of violence towards ladies and warned the general public towards shaming victims of such crimes.
“We reiterate our dedication to selling a tradition of respect, equality and security for all people in Kenya, no matter gender. We encourage the general public to face united towards violence and assist efforts to create a safer setting for girls and ladies,” she mentioned in an announcement.
The President’s Advisor on Ladies’s Rights, Harriette Chiggai, pledged to push for stiffer penalties for perpetrators of sexual and gender-based violence.
“It’s also my dedication to work with the judiciary to expedite instances of intimate accomplice violence.To this finish, I will even ask the felony justice system to make sure that survivors of sexual and gender primarily based violence (SGBV) are handled with dignity and that these instances should not delayed,” Ms Chiggai mentioned.
In the identical vein, the Deputy Speaker of the Nationwide Meeting, Gladys Shollei, expressed the necessity for the federal government to strengthen the capability of regulation enforcement companies with assets and coaching to fight technology-facilitated GBV.
Alternatively, the Federation of Ladies Attorneys (Fida) Kenya accused the Nationwide Police Service of failing over time to deliver perpetrators of intimate accomplice violence (IPV) and femicide to justice.
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