Is Kenya serious about ending femicide?

Last year Kenya’s President William Ruto established a task force to investigate the escalating cases of gender-based violence including femicide. The task force travelled around the country gathering information and at the beginning of this year published its recommendations, which are now being debated in parliament. One of those recommendations is the legal recognition of femicide as a standalone crime.

UN Women, the United Nations agency which promotes the empowerment and rights of girls and women, have been working with grassroots organisations in Kenya on male engagement strategies, to change perceptions of the role of men and women. But the UN Women’s representative in Kenya, acknowledges that challenges remain.

In the meantime, women continue to march in protest and the country waits to see if President Ruto will implement the task force recommendations. So, is Kenya serious about ending femicide?

Contributors

Shyleen Momanyi, executive director, Young Women’s Leadership Institute, Nairobi, Kenya

Dr Nancy Baraza, former deputy chief justice of the Republic of Kenya, senior law lecturer, University of Nairobi, chairperson of the technical working group on gender-based violence including femicide, Kenya

Consuelo Corradi, professor of sociology, Lumsa University, Rome, Italy

Antonia Sodonon, UN Women country representative, Kenya

Presenter: Charmaine Cozier

Producer: Jill Collins

Researcher: Evie Yabsley

Editor: Tom Bigwood

Technical producer: Toby James

Production management: Phoebe Lomas and Liam Morrey

(Photo: Protesters attend a rally in Nairobi demanding an end to femicide, 27 January, 2024. Three women at the forefront, one wears a white T-shirt with a "End Femicide" slogan at the front, the middle woman wears a red T-shirt and is shouting, and the third is holding a banner with the slogan "Stop Killing US". Credit: Daniel Irung/EPA-EFE/Rex/Shutterstock)