Rédaction Africa Links 24 with Daily Nation
Published on 2024-01-27 21:00:00
Femicide, a chilling reality that transcends borders and cultures, continues to cast a dark shadow over the lives of women in Kenya. Instead of addressing the serious issue at hand, victim-blaming attitudes often emerge, perpetuating questions such as, “What was she wearing? Why was she out alone at night? Did she provoke the attacker? Was she involved in any risky behavior?” These questions not only perpetuate victim-blaming attitudes but also obscure the real issues at hand.
The news headlines are filled with the names of sisters, daughters, and mothers lost to the gender-specific brutality of violence. Femicide is not just a statistic; it is an urgent call for societal reflection and collective action to dismantle the roots of this outrageous crime. Since the establishment of Femicide Count Kenya in 2019, the organization has documented horrifying incidents, ranging from stabbing and beating to mutilation and immolation.
The victims, mostly aged between 21 and 30 years, face the brutality of a society where more than one in three women report experiencing physical violence in their lifetime, as indicated by a 2022 national survey. Implementation of strong laws and policies against gender-based violence and femicide remains a significant challenge.
Femicide Count Kenya reported a heartbreaking record of killings in 2023, the highest in the last five years. The National Crime Reporting System reveals that more than 40 per cent of Kenyan women aged 15–49 have encountered physical violence at least once in their lifetimes, with one in four women experiencing it within the last year alone. The Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) underscores the severity of the issue, reporting alarming cases of femicide in 2023, a drastic increase from the previous year. The report brings to light the alarming reality that a majority of femicide cases occur in rural areas, affecting predominantly low-income backgrounds.
The call for urgent action becomes even more pressing as governments and civic society organizations stress the need to address the root causes of femicide. Femicide should be treated as a national catastrophe, demanding more attention and action. Collective action, commitment, and immediate and effective measures need to be our talk of the day. It is our individual and collective responsibility to build a nation where every girl and woman lives free from fear, violence, and intimidation.
