By Rédaction Africa Links 24 with the-star.co.ke
Published on 2024-01-17 13:52:48
The Kenya Women Parliamentary Association (KEWOPA) is calling for President William Ruto to declare femicide and other forms of Gender Based Violence a national disaster. In a statement on Wednesday, the association condemned the increasing incidences of violence against women in the country and called on the Directorate of Criminal Investigations and the Inspector General of Police to speed up investigations into ongoing femicide cases.
The statement comes after the shocking murders of Starlet Wahu and a woman now identified as Rita Waeni in Roysambu. KEWOPA chairperson Leah Sankaire expressed concern about the victimization of women on media platforms, blaming them for their deaths. Sankaire highlighted the advancement of technologically facilitated GBV through social media and emphasized the need for deliberate action to end violence against women.
Sankaire urged the President to declare femicide and other forms of GBV a national disaster and commit to addressing it, noting that the country has been slow to respond to the epidemic and that current attempts at addressing SGBV have been haphazard and uncoordinated.
She also called on the government to urgently act towards the prevention of violence and strengthen the protection of women and girls from all forms of SGBV in accordance with laws and policies. Opposition leader Raila Odinga also waded into the increased cases of femicide, expressing that the abnormality of these murders cannot become the new norm.
Raila highlighted that the ugly scourge of the murder of women is now a national emergency. The recent cases of alleged murders of women within Nairobi have drawn reactions from Kenyans on social media with civil societies calling for action. FIDA also came out to condemn the increased cases of femicide in the country as well as the blaming of the women who have been killed.
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