Outraged Kenyans protest after murders of women – BBC News

By Mercy Juma & Anthony IrunguBBC News, Nairobi27 January 2024, 11:40 GMTUpdated 2 hours agoImage source, Mercy Juma/BBCImage caption, “I am here because I’m angry,” says Winnie ChelagatDemonstrations are being held in major cities across Kenya to show disapproval for the increasing cases of femicide and other violence against women. Hundreds of people have gathered in Nairobi, Nakuru, Mombasa, Nyeri, and Lodwar, with some holding placards bearing the names of the victims. A survey conducted in 2022 revealed that at least one in three Kenyan women had experienced physical violence at some point in their lives.”I am here because I’m angry,” 33-year-old Winnie Chelagat expressed to the BBC. “It is wrong, we are tired and we want something to be done about it.” “Men and boys must take responsibility for their own actions instead of the burden being on women and girls to protect themselves,” said another protester named Michael Onyango. “We should educate our sons and tell them that they need to stop killing women.” Femicide, defined as intentionally killing a woman or girl because of their gender, has recorded more than 500 cases in Kenya between 2016 and 2023, according to Amnesty International. Many of the victims were killed by their intimate partners or people known to them. Campaigners are urging the authorities to expedite justice for all recent victims of sexual and gender-based violence. Dozens of local rights groups are demanding that the government declare femicide a national emergency and consider femicide a distinct crime, separate from murder. During the Nairobi demonstrations, protesters chanted “Sisi ni watu sio wanyama” in Swahili, meaning “we are human beings not animals”. Others held banners with messages such as “only weak men kill women” and “every time you blame the victim you affirm the murderer”. Victim-blaming has been prevalent on social media, with commentators in Kenya’s “manosphere” attributing blame to the murdered women for their own deaths. Many online messages focus on the victims’ attire at the time of the attack or question why they did not use their mobile phones to inform family and friends of their whereabouts. Despite Kenya having robust laws against gender-based violence, most perpetrators go unpunished, and when prosecutions are initiated, they often endure lengthy court proceedings. Additional reporting by Natasha Booty Inside Kenya’s ‘hidden epidemic’:Video caption, How the Covid pandemic exacerbated gender-based violence

Author: OpenAI