Kenya’s Femicide and Gender Based Violence Crisis: A Case Study for an International Response to the Femicide Epidemic
Grace Wangiru Thuiya, a beautician from Nairobi, was found dead at 24 after she was assaulted and repeatedly stabbed by her boyfriend.[1] Jessica Moraa, a mother of four from Kisii, was found in a pit latrine after her husband killed her and dumped her body.[2] These are just two examples out of hundreds of femicide[3] cases arising out of Kenya. Since 2016, at least 500 women and girls have been murdered in Kenya with at least 10 of these killings taking place in January 2024 alone.[4] Moreover, a national survey conducted in 2022 found that 9 million women- or about a third of Kenyan women- experienced some form of physical violence.[5] There are several factors contributing to the uptick in femicide cases.[6] The most nefarious factor, however, is the Kenyan justice system’s failure to protect women and girls.
Kenya has been a signatory to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women since 1984.[7] Parties to the Convention must condemn discrimination against women by promoting equality between men and women in their national constitutions and establishing legal protection for women’s rights through “competent national tribunals and other public institutions.”[8] The Declaration of the Elimination of Violence against Women, which applies to UN member states, was adopted by the General Assembly in 1993 as an expansion and reinforcement of the Convention with the explicit inclusion of violence against women.[9]
The Kenyan government has taken steps to enshrine protections for women in its legislation. For example, Article 21 of the constitution provides that State organs and officers have a duty to “address the needs of vulnerable groups” including women.[10] Furthermore, in 2015, Parliament passed the Protection Against Domestic Violence Act which has an expansive definition of violence including FGM, forced marriage, harassment, physical abuse, sexual abuse, stalking, and verbal abuse.[11]
Despite Kenya being a signatory to the aforementioned international treaties and even incorporating protective measures into its legislation, the justice system has been incredibly slow in acting to prevent or prosecute instances of violence against women. On average, it takes 1900 days from the day of a perpetrator’s arrest for the perpetrator to actually be sentenced.[12] At times, law enforcement officers themselves have been the perpetrators of violence against women and femicide.[13] Additionally, the number of femicide cases are severely underreported particularly involving cases against marginalized groups such as sex workers and cases involving perpetrators who are influential, government officials, or wealthy.[14] Furthermore, the government does not collect data on femicide cases.[15] These pitfalls enable a system of impunity and distrust.
In recent months, grassroots organizations across Kenya have taken to the streets to protest for legislative reform and have also taken to social media to protest inaction with hashtags such as #EndFemicideKE and #StopKillingWomen.[16] Activists are calling for the government to formally recognize femicide as a crime, for perpetrators to receive heavier sentences, and for the government to formally collect data on femicide cases.[17]
Several countries, however, show that legislative reform is not sufficient. For example, in 2020, the South African government launched a plan to address GBV and femicide which included amending legislation and adopting GBV policies and programming informed by existing evidence-based research.[18] Yet, in 2021 the femicide rates in South Africa were five times the global average with one woman being killed every three hours and no indication of rates lowering.[19]
It is time for the international community to recognize femicide as a global crisis requiring a global response.[20] Currently, international organizations such as the UN focus on data collection and partnering with states, civil-society organizations, and other stakeholders to prevent violence against women and girls.[21] Due diligence, including independent investigations and punishments of femicide cases, must be reinforced by international law and scrutinized by the international community.[22] There is also an opportunity to also support the “living victims of femicide” such as the children left behind by mothers.[23] Italy, for example, passed a law for special orphans through which a fund financially supports them with educational scholarships, medical and psychological care, and legal costs.[24] Collective action is the premier solution to this communal issue.
Joy Kemunto is a staff member of Fordham International Law Journal Volume XLVII.
[1] Abdi Latif Dahir, Shaken by Grisly Killings of Women, Activists in Africa Demand Change, N.Y. Times (Feb. 19, 2024), https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/19/world/africa/femicide-kenya-africa.html.
[2] Edwin Nyarangi, Man Who Killed His Wife Sentenced to 40 Years in Prison, Standard (Nov. 17, 2021), https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/counties/article/2001429462/man-who-killed-his-wife-sentenced-to-40-years-in-prison.
[3] Femicide is defined as “an intentional killing with a gender-related motivation” that can be driven by factors such as gender role stereotypes, harmful social norms, and unequal power relations between women and men. Five Essential Facts to Know About Femicide, U.N. Women (Nov. 22, 2023), https://www.unwomen.org/en/news-stories/feature-story/2022/11/five-essential-facts-to-know-about-femicide.
[4] Femicide Cases in Kenya Fuel Urgent Calls for Action to End Violence against Women, U.N. Women (Feb. 9, 2024), https://www.unwomen.org/en/news-stories/feature-story/2024/02/femicide-cases-in-kenya-fuel-urgent-calls-for-action-to-end-violence-against-women.
[5] Shola Lawal, Femicide in Kenya: What’s Causing an Epidemic of Violence against Women?, Al Jazeera (Jan. 27, 2024), https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/1/27/femicide-in-kenya-whats-causing-the-frequent-murders-of-women.
[6] Some factors contributing to femicide include gender roles rooted in a patriarchal system, traditional practices such as female genital mutilation (FGM), and economic disparities such as lack of employment opportunities and access to education. See Grace Ndanu, Femicide in Kenya: A Silence Crisis, Univ. Ala. at Birmingham: Inst. for Hum. Rts. Blog (Mar. 14, 2024), https://sites.uab.edu/humanrights/2024/03/14/femicide-in-kenya-a-silent-crisis/#:~:text=In%20recent%20years%2C%20Kenya%20has,problem%20that%20demands%20urgent%20attentio.
[7] Status of Ratification Interactive Dashboard, Off. of the High Commissioner for Hum. Rts, https://indicators.ohchr.org (last visited April 2, 2024).
[8] Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women art. 2(c), Dec. 18, 1979, 1249 U.N.T.S. 13.
[9] See generally G.A. Res. 48/104, Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women, Resolution (Dec. 20, 1993).
[10] See Constitution art. 21(3) (2010) (Kenya).
[11] See The Protection Against Domestic Violence Act (2015) Cap. 151 § 3 (Kenya).
[12] Silencing Women: Tracking Femicide Cases Reported in Kenyan Newspapers from 2016 to Date, Afr. Data Hub, https://www.africadatahub.org/femicide-kenya (last visited April 2, 2024).
[13] Agatha Ndonga, Kenya Must Do More to End Femicide and Violence Against Women, Int’l Ctr. for Transitional Just. (Mar. 1, 2024), https://www.ictj.org/latest-news/kenya-must-do-more-end-femicide-and-violence-against-women.
[14] Betty Kabari, Kenyan Women Aren’t Safe and Will No Longer Be Quiet, Hum. Rts. Watch (Mar. 5, 2024, 1:25 PM), https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/03/05/kenyan-women-arent-safe-and-will-no-longer-be-quiet.
[15] Id.
[16] Jacky Habib, Kenyans Demand Justice- and a New Kind of Law- for the Brutal Murders of Women, NPR (Feb. 16, 2024 10:58 AM), https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2024/02/16/1231973412/murders-of-women-lead-to-a-call-for-a-law-on-femicide.
[17] See Lawal, supra note 5.
[18] See Gov’t of South Africa, National Strategic Plan on Gender-Based Violence & Femicide 38 (Mar. 11, 2020), https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/gcis_document/202006/stratplan-gbvs.pdf.
[19] Amie Sillito, South Africa’s Gender Based Violence and Femicide Epidemic, Geneva Int’l Ctr. for Just. (Nov. 6, 2021), https://www.gicj.org/positions-opinons/gicj-positions-and-opinions/2270-south-africa’s-gender-based-violence-and-femicide-epidemic.
[20] See Five Essential Facts to Know About Femicide, supra note 3 (“According to the new report, in 2022, Africa recorded the largest absolute number of female intimate partner and family related killings with an estimated 20,000 victims; followed by 18,400 in Asia; 7,900 in the Americas; 2,300 in Europe; and 200 in Oceania.”).
[21] See generally Femicide Watch Initiative, Off. of the High Commissioner for Hum. Rts, https://www.ohchr.org/en/special-procedures/sr-violence-against-women/femicide-watch-initiative (last visited Apr. 8, 2024); see also Ending Violence against Women, U.N. Women, https://www.unwomen.org/en/what-we-do/ending-violence-against-women (last visited Apr. 8, 2024).
[22] Morris Tidball-Binz (Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary, or Arbitrary Executions), Report of the Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions, U.N. Doc. A/78/254 4-5 (July 28, 2023).
[23] Jade Levell, How to Tackle the Femicide Epidemic, Int’l Pol. and Soc’y J. (Nov. 25, 2021), https://www.ips-journal.eu/topics/democracy-and-society/how-to-tackle-the-femicide-epidemic-5568/.
[24] Id.
This is a student blog post and in no way represents the views of the Fordham International Law Journal.