•From Jan 2019 – Nov 2021, we lost 205 women from femicide and these were the only reported cases of femicide by the media.
•Mr President, there is no up-to-date government-verified data on the prevalence of femicide or any actions taken to prevent its occurrence in Kenya.
Dear H.E. Dr. William Samoei Ruto, CGH. President of the Republic of Kenya and Commander-In-Chief of the Kenya Defence Forces
Your Excellency, letter 7 calls for government-verified data on Femicide and an end to objectification and sexualization of women’s bodies - #MyDearBody.
The number of cases of sexualized violence, hate crimes and femicide in our country is on the rise.
From Jan 2019 – Nov 2021, we lost 205 women from femicide and these were the only reported cases of femicide by the media.
Women in our country encounter a plethora of struggles from access to resources to access to justice.
The most prevalent form of violence is Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) which is mainly caused by power imbalances.
Most SGBV cases go unreported or undocumented.
The Kenya National Bureau of Statistics reports that the lifetime physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence rate is at 41%.
Mr President, there is no up-to-date government-verified data on the prevalence of femicide or any actions taken to prevent its occurrence in Kenya.
Having accessible government-verified data on femicide is important for prevention and accountability.
Mr President, the government promised to develop a “GBV management and information system by 2022 to strengthen GBV prevention and response programming”.
We are 27 days away from the end of the year 2022, and we ask that the system should also have data on femicide and possible ways the government intends to solve the vice in line with the Generation Equality Forum commitments.
Your Excellency, the policing and the objectification of the female bodies must be understood within the context of not just a patriarchal Kenyan society, but from an imbalanced system of power and privilege point of view.
In this country, the power imbalance tends to give others greater access to certain social, political and cultural benefits, such as higher social status and income levels, positions of authority and greater control over decision-making.
This privilege reinforces and perpetuates the power imbalance within the communities we live in Women are STILL valued based on our reproductive roles, not our productive roles as a result of a misogynistic culture that perpetuates violence for women and girls.
Your Excellency, there has always been an abundance of hate around women’s bodies from the disgusting comments we interact with online to the hateful comments we experience through our daily social interactions.
We spend our lives adjusting to understanding our bodies and it is unfair and unjust to be targeted or abused because a person does not conform to the societal definition of womanhood.
We have been targeted for looking and dressing masculine and ‘too feminine’.
We suffer in silence while battling varying conditions; we are obstructed by myths, a tribe of stigma and the frustration of misdiagnosis. All because women’s bodies have been long misunderstood.
Your Excellency, the constitution under chapter four article 27 (1) and (2) speaks about equality and freedom from discrimination, women in this country are discriminated against because of our gender and existence.
Take a look at your Cabinet Secretaries, Mr President, does it constitute 50/50 as promised in your manifesto?
To attain gender equality, we need equal participation in leadership and key decision-making spaces in this country.
To the judiciary, we demand the review of minimum sentences for sexual offenders in Kenya.
Survivor of sexual and gender-based violence carries the trauma and the prolonged pain throughout their lives while the plaintiff gets 20 years or less in prison or released on a K.Sh 200,000 bond.
To the public of Kenya, when gruesome murders of Women happen, we tend to blame the victim, the blaming of the victim justifies the act of femicide and SGBV.
It is high time we speak about violence in our homes, institutions, and in public in order to eliminate the normalized mentality of SGBV and FEMICIDE.
Gender-Based Violence is harmful and hinders the socioeconomic development of our country. Let's stand together and name the women we have lost in the hands of patriarchy, count the numbers, document it, and end it.
Your Excellency, we will start,
Millicent Muthoni Rungu(38yrs)-stabbed by her husband to death
Purity Wangeci (19yrs)-Killed by her boyfriend
Damaris Muthee Mutua(28yrs)-Killed by her boyfriend
Sheila Lumumba(25yrs)- Raped and killed by an unknown group of men.
Rahab Gathoni(28yrs)-Poisoned by her husband
And many more………………………………Thank you Sir!
Truly
Young Women’s Leadership Institute
[email protected]. | www.ywli.or.ke.
&
Maureen Waititu, Lawyer & Social Impact Influencer on Women Economic Empowerment
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