Femicide Series 1 in Kenya 2024: An Unforgettable Experience

One prevalent and concerning type of gender-based violence is femicide, which is the deliberate death of women due to their gender.

Femicide in Kenya, a global social issue that affects women everywhere, regardless of location or cultural background. It is essential to comprehend the reasons, difficulties, warning signs, and symptoms of femicide to create successful preventative and intervention plans.

What causes femicide in Kenya?

A complex interaction of social, cultural, political, and economic variables leads to femicide. Systemic violence, discriminatory cultural norms, and deeply ingrained gender inequality all contribute to the continuation of this calamity. Women in Kenya are more susceptible to gender-based violence due to a lack of access to education, poor legal protections, and economic inequality.

Challenges Facing Fight Against This Brutal Sexual Gender Based Violence

There are many different obstacles to overcome while addressing femicide, such as institutional shortcomings, insufficient legislative measures, and societal indifference. For example, there are no insufficient legislative measures in Kenya put in place to prevent killing in airbnbs in Nairobi. Effective efforts to reduce femicide are hampered by the normalization of gender-based violence, victim-blaming attitudes, and the underreporting of incidences. Significant barriers also include the continued existence of patriarchal structures and the paucity of resources devoted to resolving this issue

Signs and Symptoms

Early response is essential if suspected femicide symptoms and indicators are identified. Increasing patterns of domestic violence, compulsive conduct on the part of the perpetrator, and victim isolation are examples of warning indicators. Psychological distress symptoms including anxiety, depression, or post-traumatic stress disorder might be manifested by victims. A greater understanding of these signs can aid in the prompt detection and avoidance of femicide.

How Does It Reflect In Kenya?

I had the experience of two women sharing their stories last weekend in January 2024. I realized this femicide was real. It looked like they were in their late 20s and early 30s. I took them with me, and one woman was crying. The other tried to tell her to stop and get on with it. It got my attention because they were drunk and used vulgar language. However, she calmed down and started sharing her story. In the pub, she met the friend’s husband, who pushed on having sex with her. She declined, citing her desire to stay loyal to her friend. He persisted, saying he would give Ksh. 200,000 for sex in addition to paying the bills that evening.

After paying the bills, he insisted on keeping them a secret from his wife. This caught my attention because I wondered what would motivate a married man to pay so much to have sex with his wife’s friend. It is necessary to treat this issue on a psychological and spiritual level. This brought to mind 2 Timothy 3:1–5. But understand, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.

In psychology research showed that the long relationship between the victim and perpetrator was likely to be characterised by contentiousness, suggesting that the woman was often the victim of an oppressive climate of emotional tension and domination. Morbid jealousy contributed to aggravating the tone of a controlling relationship. Non-sexual femicides bore more similarities to cases of rape within the pattern of intimate partner violence. Findings are discussed in terms of their implications for prevention and intervention.

Treatment

A comprehensive strategy involving social, legal, and mental health initiatives is needed to address femicide. Alongside victim assistance programs, legal measures should guarantee prompt and serious repercussions for offenders. Social programs that support gender equality, awareness, and education can help to shift cultural norms. Support for survivors’ mental health is crucial to their ability to recover from trauma and start over in life. To address the elephant in the house, let’s draw on Kenya’s expert pool of counsellors and psychologists.