• We must reverse what seems to be an inherent inclination to violence and impunity.
• The dominant, socially acceptable image of a male figure is that of a rude and combative bully.
Image: REUTERS
There is growing and disconcerting evidence that women in politics are targeted in gender-specific ways by their male counterparts.
They are often harassed and intimidated. When they raise issues about their constituencies their male counterparts dismiss and ridicule them in public.
Moreover, public office, especially political office, remains hostile territory for women. Parliament, the exclusive domain of men, has made it clear that they will violate the two-thirds gender rule, which requires that no more than two-thirds of elective or appointed public bodies be of the same gender.
Last week Wajir Women Representative Fatuma Gedi was physically assaulted by Wajir East MP Rashid Amin. This beastly attack took place within Parliament Buildings.
A couple of weeks before this incident Nairobi Governor Mike Mbuvi (Sonko) launched a shameful verbal tirade against Nairobi Women Representative Esther Passaris.
We all recall “Kidero, you have slapped me? You have slapped me Kidero? You have slapped me?” This was then Nairobi Women Representative crying out after she was allegedly assaulted by then Governor Evans Kidero.
The last election also saw an unprecedented surge in sexual and gender-based violence. Female candidates reported harassment, abuse and violence during the electioneering process.
We must be a more compassionate, emotionally aware and caring society. Conflict management and self-restraint are skills that we must learn and practice. Early on, at home and in school, we must cultivate emotional agility and teach children and young adults to master the influencing, negotiation and compromise techniques.
As always, the behaviour of our politicians is often a reflection what is going on in the larger society. Our politicians are not from out of space. They have been formed and produced by the dominant norms, values and culture of our society.
A study conducted on Kenyan youth by the East Africa Institute of the Aga Khan University revealed that more than 70 per cent of youth would respond with physical violence to resolve conflict or disagreement.
The study also showed that most of the youth would not speak out against what they believed was wrong, unjust or unlawful. The video that went viral in August 2018 of the beastly assault of Winfred Mwende by her husband David Nzomo is instructive.
According to the Federation of Women Lawyers (Fida), cases of domestic violence hit a five-year high in the first half of 2018.
Domestic violence against women is pervasive. The State Department for Gender Affairs suggests that women in the middle and affluent classes were abused just as much as women in the lower economic classes.
The epidemic of violence should concern all of us. But more importantly, we must reverse what seems to be an inherent inclination to violence and impunity. I worry that the dominant, socially acceptable image of a male figure is that of a rude and combative bully.
We must be a more compassionate, emotionally aware and caring society. Conflict management and self-restraint are skills that we must learn and practice.
Early on, at home and in school, we must cultivate emotional agility and teach children and young adults to master the influencing, negotiation and compromise techniques.
More importantly, violence against women must be dealt with swiftly and firmly. It is barbaric. Wajir East MP Rashid Amin must be held accountable.