Gender agenda: Women are own worst enemy

There is need to examine why women are treated so shabbily in Kenya and to redress this. [File, Standard]

Biblical accounts of the origin of mankind tell of the creation of man preceding that of woman. This is not a Judeo-Christian tale of chauvinism. Nor is it a depiction of women as being inferior. If anything, in Genesis 2:18, God refers to woman as man’s “help meet” or “a helper comparable to him”.

Woman is therefore man’s companion suitable for him in every way. In this context, the term “weaker sex” does not portray inferiority in woman but rather, describes the physiological differentiation that allows each gender to perform complementary roles.

Recent reports of the assault on a lady Member of County the Assembly are shocking. This was allegedly at the hands of her male colleague during a training session in Arusha, Tanzania.

According to newspaper reports, women in the assembly are routinely intimidated “because of holding different opinions from male counterparts”.

In other news, the Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA) has lost a case in which it wanted couples to share their wealth equally upon divorce. It had argued that women were disadvantaged after the dissolution of their marriages.

The High Court upheld the Matrimonial Properties Act. It ruled that parties to a marriage are entitled to their individual shares of contribution to family wealth. What was surprising were the commentaries by many men on social media. Most seemed to entertain the notion that women contributed precious little in a union.

Passing mention

When violence is meted against women, it hardly gets more than passing mention. But when men are afflicted, as in the case of the Nyeri male genital amputations, it becomes national news. 

A joke is made of how traditional wife-beating was an art. It was more of a pantomime in which only certain designated areas were touched, perhaps almost caressed, as a sign of affection rather than discipline. These days, the joke goes, wife-beating is total war!

There is need to examine why women are treated so shabbily in Kenya and to redress this. A quote attributed to African-American human rights activist Malcom X says, “The black man will never get anybody’s respect until he first learns to respect his own women.”

But do women respect their own? Why haven’t they harnessed the awesome power of their numbers to have one of their own at the helm of the country? It is evident that women have a singularity of purpose and devote themselves to a task until completion.

Examples abound of women’s groups that bought farms or started income-generating enterprises. In some countries, women have translated these grassroots actions into nationwide movements. Joyce Banda of Malawi became president on the backbone of such action.

Clearly, for women to be taken seriously, we must define parity. An egalitarian society is achieved by economic and political emancipation. That is the crux of our long-term stability. Empowering women economically entails ushering their groups/enterprises into phases of organic growth.

These include expanding their markets from village businesses to countrywide concerns. It also includes covering entire value-chains from production to packaging and distribution. Political empowerment may involve the withdrawal of gratuities that come under the label of “affirmative action”.

Woman representative

The office of Woman Representative created by the Constitution comes to mind. No one seems certain what the impact of these representatives is. The special interest group they represent, that is, women and children, seem to have fared no better than they did under the old constitution.

A common complaint is that once these women are elected, they disappear only to re-emerge closer to national elections. Even their excuses - that they are working below the radar at grass-roots level - ring hollow when one hopes that they are the vehicles meant to propel women to the national limelight.

Socially, women need to be less flippant about the way marriage contracts are entered and disregarded. It pays to bring more value to a relationship than being a trophy wife. That sort of value facilitates an emollient approach to differences. But even before that, it pays to be in a relationship of some permanence.

Ultimately, only women can help themselves achieve the eminence they desire. As Donald Tusk, president of the European Council, said recently, “If you need a helping hand, you will find it at the end of your arm.”

Women in Kenya have travelled some way steadied by the hands of others. It is now time to depend on their own hands.

Mr Khafafa is vice president of the Kenya-Turkey Business Council