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Will 2015 be a better year for Kenyan women?

Achieving Woman

#mydressmychoice;millieodhiambo;kenyawomen"On paper, Kenya is one of the best countries to live in - as a woman in Africa. In fact, the Constitution of Kenya protects women to such a level that is better than some of the developed nations. In reality, Kenya is one of the places where the life and welfare of a woman is least respected in Africa."

Paper in this case is the Constitution of Kenya and the person speaking is Kimberly Brown, a female legal consultant based in Nairobi. Kimberly talks fast. Faster than you. She talks so fast she has to hold her chest using her hand to catch her breath.

Words tumble out of her mouth even when she clearly wants to stop. This perhaps symbolises the state of the welfare of women in the country. Things are tumbling for women.

The years 2013 and 2014 being the first two in the second half of the first century of Kenya's nationhood after independence can officially be certified to have been grossly unjust, violent and full of setbacks for women.

First off, Martha Karua, a respected lawyer and veteran politician vied for the presidential office in 2013 and came up sixth, behind Mohammed Abduba Dida, a man who until then had been a high school teacher.

Then came justice for Liz. Liz, who at 16 years old in 2013 was gang raped and thrown into a pit latrine where she fell and broke her back. Her violators, three men, were ordered to cut grass as punishment. And they nearly got away with it. Over 1.2 million signatures on a petition demanding justice forced the police to re-open her file.

Toward the end of 2013, Nairobi County governor, Evans Kidero slapped the current Nairobi County Women's Representative Rachel Shebesh.

2014 wasn't any good for women either. In April, President Uhuru Kenyatta had signed into a law the Marriage Bill 2014 which then became the Marriage Act 2014. Forget the change of name, the signing of that bill into a law by the president essentially gave men room to marry second or third or fourth wives without consulting and without the consent of the first wife.

One month before the president signed the bill, female MPs had walked out in protest only for male MPs to vote in the amendment behind their back. (Not that all aspects of that Act are retrogressive, sections that talk of matters like; 'Both parties to the marriage have equal rights all through.' Or parts that set the minimum age for marriage, or the parts that require all marriages to be registered were all great. Same to the parts that talked about property ownership in marriage, and in death, especially of the husband.)

After the Bill, came the cases of over ten primary school girls in Uasin Gishu County impregnated by their teachers. Within the same period, there was the case of the University of Nairobi female student raped by a colleague.

When everyone thought they had seen the worst, a woman walking in Embakasi - at the bus stage - was stripped while the public smiled, cheered and filmed.

To crown the past two terrible years for women in Kenya, some MPs led by the Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria on December 18 allegedly slapped or boxed, then stripped Mbita MP Millie Odhiambo in Parliament as they scuffled over the Security Bill (or she stripped herself to complete the process for them, depending on who is looking and which side of the floor they stood.)

These were the highly publicised incidences. There are thousands of domestic abuse cases, thousands of office harassment cases and many more cases of forced early marriages than the government reports and thousands of forced circumcision cases that the newspapers can't report them all.

Sounds more like a Kenya in the 19th Century. No wonder Kimberly Brown, lawyer- Kavinya Mukua, Esther Passaris, Martha Karua, FIDA, and Maendeleo Ya Wanawake can't breathe while they talk.

Which begs three questions; What exactly is going on? Do women know that there are laws that were formulated to protect them? And do they have the right information to pursue justice, and access it?

"This is a culture. A culture of violence and repression against women. It is all over the world, Kenya included. It has become so normalised that we have come to accept it as okay," says Brown.

Sitting next to Kimberly is another female lawyer - Kavinya Mukua. Kavinya is equally miffed. Kimberly goes on, "Locally, one in five Kenyan women will be violated in their life. More than 80 per cent of the survivors of violation - be it sexual or otherwise -  never report the case to the authorities."

That culture of violence and repression is everywhere in Kenya. In a village in Loyangalani and somewhere in Karen in the elite end of Nairobi. It is at the coast affecting the prostitutes and in some 17th floor office in Nairobi affecting a female Master's degree holder corporate woman. It affects girls of 28 months and elderly women of 82 years. And like all cultures, it is an amalgam of several different things.

"What is going on is that there is a culture of impunity among men and the society at large, there is stigmatisation (victim blaming, victimisation and shaming) of the women who are abused and a legal/ enforcement system that is full of gaps. It is difficult for the women to stand up and speak out against the violations when the systems that should have their backs do not," says Kimberly.

Lawyer Kavinya Mukua, interjects: "The thing about awareness of the equality, law and rights is that it is complicated. Where does the foundation of rights begin...in primary school or before that? And are these not the same stages where we still (in some parts of Kenya) teach and treat the male child different from the female child? At a national level, it is the duty of the state to come up with awareness programs so that more women get to know their rights. It is also the duty of the state to ensure that structures like the police and the prosecuting apparatus are functional and approachable so that women can feel at ease and be willing to seek their help in times of need."

The question of awareness and the impact of the message (and whether women actually understand how it applies to them) being passed is a convoluted one. How else can one explain why a university educated lady would be worried about buying a car, or investing in a piece of property before marriage for fear of getting into conflict with the future husband?

Or why a woman can easily contribute money for the purchase of property then let the purchased property, say land, be registered under the name of the man - knowing that if the man sires children out of the recognised home, out-growers will be able to claim that property. Why would she disregard the Matrimonial Property Act?

In fact a recent report by FIDA stated that countrywide, out of all the registered title deeds, only 1 per cent is registered under women's names.

Or why a lady who has been abused by her boss in the office would rather stay and suffer in silence or leave quietly to another job instead of taking him to court. Why disregard the articles on equality and non-discrimination?

Or why Rachel Shebesh thought an out-of-court settlement was a better option than dragging Evans Kidero through the justice system. Why disregard the Sexual Offences Act?

At the offices of Equality Now, an organisation that fights to end discrimination against girls and women, programme officer for discrimination in law Kavinya Mukua explains; "The level of awareness on women's rights in Kenya is not regular. Quantifying awareness is also not easy. The reality is that the law cannot compel women to seek legal redress. Some of these women know what they are supposed to do but choose not to. And the reasons range from fear of victimisation, the stigma that comes with speaking out and the fact that they have little faith in the effectiveness of the system."

The path to getting that justice is on its own fraught with obstacles. Take for instance a lady who is undergoing domestic violence, she is not safe at her home and at the police station where she is supposed to seek justice since the police like most members of the society will be keen on knowing what she did to provoke the violence, which is never always the case.

As 2014 ends and 2015 begins, here is to hope that FGM, adolescent pregnancies, trafficking of girls/ladies and violence against women will go down.

 

 

 

 

 

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