Joan Rispa

Kenyan households have slowly become the hunting ground for Kenyan women as a number of them die in the hands of intimate partners. According to the Africa Data Hub, over 500 women have been killed since 2016 with 75% of these killings being committed by a person known to the victim – an intimate partner, relative, or friend. Which begs the question, where are women safe if their homes have turned into graveyards?

In protest to a surge of these killings, Kenyan women took to the streets on 27 January, to demand justice and ask the government to declare femicide as a national disaster. On 14 February, a follow-up public vigil was exercised dubbed ‘Dark Valentine’ in which candles were lit to honour the departed women, with their names being said aloud.

Violence against women is not a new phenomenon. According to UN Women, as of 2023, more than 133 women are killed on a daily basis by someone in their family. Africa recorded the highest number of femicide cases with an estimate of about 20,000 killings followed by Asia, then America. What exactly do these numbers mean? As a society, we have normalized violence against women to the extent that murder no longer fazes us.

Rita Waeni, a 20-year-old university student was found murdered and her body dismembered in an Airbnb apartment on 14 January but rather than be enraged by the murder, the conversations online quickly turned on her. People who had no clue of who Rita was were quick to remind young girls and women to ‘act accordingly’ on dates insinuating that when a man spends a certain amount of money, then sex is obligatory. The same sentiments were shared after the death of Starlet Wahu, 26, another murder victim who was also killed in an Airbnb apartment on 3 January. But what of Agnes Tirop, a world champion marathon runner, who was the breadwinner for her family and yet met the same fate as Starlet and Rita in the hands of her husband on 21 Oct 2021? What of all the women who do not get media coverage but still form the daily statistics of 133 women killed in a day? How do we justify their murder?

In a deeply patriarchal society such as Kenya, intimate partner violence has been normalized. In marriage, a common phrase used to silence the victims of abuse is ‘ndoa ni kuvumiliana’ which directly translates to marriage is tolerance. More weight is given to being in a relationship regardless of how safe or healthy the relationship is and separation or divorce is greatly frowned upon. This has seen more women meet their untimely deaths because they felt like walking away from the relationship was not an option. With the indoctrination of this culture, young girls go into relationships and put up with anything vile believing that they can change their partner. Hence the cycle continues.

Njeri wa Migwi a former GBV victim turned survivor intimately understands both worlds and now uses her voice and resources to shelter many abused women and girls in Kenya. According to her, the march was successful in raising awareness on femicide which for far too long would go unnoticed or mislabelled as homicide. This awareness is seeping through to the national leaders to help formulate a motion in parliament that will hopefully safeguard women and girls while raising the penal code against perpetrators by law. She also notes that a helpline was created by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) to ease the reporting of femicide cases.

The verdict is yet to be released on whether these measures are enough to bring an end to femicide and violence against women and girls. Njeri, who has made it her life’s mission to champion the rights of abused women and girls, notes that the legal processes take too long, encouraging the perpetrators. Case in point, despite initially confessing to the murder and several witness accounts of threats made to Agnes Tirop by her husband, he is yet to be convicted of killing her. In the case of Monica Kimani, another high-profile case that received great media coverage in the country, the court case dragged on in the public eye for five years before the murderer, Joseph ‘Jowie’ Irungu, was finally convicted on March 13 and sentenced to life imprisonment.

It may take another five years to convict the murderers of Agnes, Starlet, Rita, and all the other women who have lost their lives. Some names will be forgotten and the murderers will walk away scot-free. After all, we seem to have a business casual relationship with murderers. As it is already, the hashtags have become fewer and the urgency has waned off. Few seem to remember the seething anger that took them to the streets in search of justice.

For Njeri, she chooses to keep pushing even when it feels hopeless and constantly reminds herself who she is doing this for. For her, these women are not just another statistic or news item. They are real people, who lived real lives with families left behind and no one to defend them.

We may not march in protest every single day but at an individual level, we must keep the conversations going and spread awareness even after the hashtags stop trending.