Protests against femicide have taken place across Kenya after a rise in killings this month.
Reports of at least a dozen cases of femicide since the start of the year have prompted public outrage, debate and demonstrations across the country, including in Nairobi, Kisumu and Mombasa.
Thousands of women marched in major cities on Saturday carrying placards that called for an end to femicide, with messages reading #StopKillingUs #EndFemicideKe and #WeJustWantToLive. Other signage bore the names of women who have been killed in recent months, with the messages “Say Their Names” or “SheWasSomeone”. Tens of thousands of posts calling for an end to the violent killings trended online.
At least 500 cases of femicide have been recorded in Kenya since 2016. Organisations that document the deaths say the actual number may be higher due to unreported cases or incidents where details are omitted in police or media reports, leaving the deaths miscategorised.
A majority of the cases of femicide were perpetrated by men who knew the women and were in intimate relationships with them, according to the data organisation Africa Data Hub. It found that many of the killings were preceded by systematic domestic violence.
In the week before the march, women shared their fears and reasons for protest, citing apprehensions about their safety or interactions with men, trauma from rolling news of the recent deaths, and public debate that called women’s autonomy into question.
Protesters called for femicide to be legally recognised as a crime, saying that its conflation with murder did not account for the unique circumstances under which the killings are committed, which are defined by unequal power relations between men and women, or harmful gender norms.
“Many people don’t understand what femicide is,” said Maria Angela Maina, 26, a lawyer and gender equality advocate who took part in the protests. “The circumstances of these murders are different from normal homicides … so the fact that people are now more aware and they are speaking about this issue and even going to the streets to protest is so powerful.”
Activists say the growing clamour may signal growing awareness of femicide, and hope it will prompt better enforcement of laws protecting women.
However, protesters also faced some pushback and threats. A video surfaced online of two men opposing the demonstration and threatening to kill women, as one went on a tirade about how women must provide sex for financial favours or face the consequences.
The activist Boniface Mwangi called for more men to join calls for an end to the violent killings, saying: “This is why we as Kenyan men should speak boldly, and loudly against [femicide] … As a man and a father, these men don’t speak for the men I know.”
Calls for the country’s leaders to address the femicide crisis have grown.
“We implore the authorities to implement effective measures to protect women and girls,” said the women’s non-profit Akili Dada. “The time for action is now.”
