Why women in National Security Council cannot afford to stay silent

From Left: Technical Working Group on Gender Based Violence and Femicide Vice Chairperson Sam Thenya, Chairperson,Nancy Barasa and Kewopa Chairperson Leah Sankaire, during a stakeholder engagement held at KICC on April 8, 2025. [Benard Orwongo, Standard]

In Kenya today, a woman can be raped, murdered, and buried without justice while the country's political class offers little more than silence, hashtags, and hollow committees. The recent formation of a Technical Working Group on Femicide is the latest performance in a political culture that treats women's lives as expendable.

Make no mistake: Kenya is facing a gendered security crisis. Femicide is rampant, with dozens of young women murdered each year, often by known perpetrators or intimate partners. Many are lured through digital platforms, yet others are simply failed by police indifference and a broken justice system. According to Femicide Count Kenya, there were at least 80 reported cases in 2024 alone and countless more went unreported.