•According to the report, there is limited knowledge and empowerment on opportunities for women.
•This casts doubt on the quality and effectiveness of voter education conducted in the county.
Image: THE STAR
Long-held cultural beliefs are locking Meru women out of leadership, a report released by Ipas Africa Alliance shows.
The report says negative social norms and cultural beliefs that place women and girls as subordinate to men and boys have continued to limit women in Meru County from getting leadership positions.
The report shows that culture and traditional gender roles in Meru prioritise family responsibilities on women and girls.
According to the report, ‘Patriarchy rules: An outlook and reflection of women leadership in Meru County’, there is limited knowledge and empowerment on opportunities for women.
This casts doubt on the quality and effectiveness of voter education conducted in the county.
Data shows that currently in Meru County, women hold just two (3.5 per cent) out of 56 elective positions, lagging behind the national average of 23.4 per cent.
“The hurdles to political participation do not end with defying the odds and getting elected. If anything, as is the case of Kawira Mwangaza, it only worsens with victory,” the report says.
“This report validated the assumption that deeply rooted patriarchal nuances as well internalized patriarchy by women themselves has contributed significantly to the glaring shortfall in women’s political participation in Meru,” it adds.
According to the report, currently, while there is no elected woman MP, only one-woman MCA was elected to the 69-member County Assembly where 45 are elected and 24 nominated.
According to the report, women who played important roles in Kenya’s decolonisation struggle are poorly identified as role models to strengthen women’s resolve in politics.
“For instance, women who pioneered the struggle for social emancipation in the early days of independence, such as Mekatilili wa Menza, do not feature in discussions on encouraging women’s political participation,” the report says.
The report further raises concern that retrogressive and harmful cultural practices such as Gender Based Violence and Female Genital Mutilation are affecting women.
It notes that women in Meru are disproportionately affected by GBV, with data approximating that 88 per cent of women in Meru have experienced GBV, nearly half of those ending in death.
The data collected from the county revealed high rates of GBV with hitting/battering/ beating scoring 88 per cent, killings/murders of GBV victims scoring 35 per cent and a further 67 per cent of women indicating having experienced GBV in the preceding 12 months.
“There is evidence that inaction and inadequate response by public authorities mandated to respond to GBV has continued to complicate GBV survivor’s ability to access services and justice,” the report says.
The report says that while GBV health infrastructure is well developed in referral and national hospitals, it is poorly developed in lower-level health facilities where most GBV cases are recorded.
Similarly, the lower-level centres lack basic facilities and equipment and have a shortage of trained staff to manage the high number of GBV cases referred to them.
Due to this lack of capacity, case management is still poor in the lower-level health facilities, thus compromising their ability to offer quality services to survivors.
Ipas, through the Call for Local Initiatives (CFLI) project funded by Global Affairs Canada, conducted a desk review of women leadership in Kenya to understand the status of gender equity with a specific focus on Meru County.
This literature review involved an in-depth analysis of the available literature on women leadership and Gender Based Violence with specific focus on Meru County, including books, journals, articles and academic publications.
The aim was to identify the gaps, challenges and underlying factors as a pathway towards enhancing gender justice in the county.