Why we must nurture and protect our women

As the Minister responsible for gender equality and women's rights, as a Kenyan woman and mother, I am greatly appalled by the recent spate of attacks targeted at women and girls.

These heinous acts against our sisters, mothers and children is simply above barbaric and criminal.

Beyond the outrage and horror that these attacks have rightfully provoked, we must now look inwards at ourselves and pose hard questions: What kind of society have we become?

What kind of society produces men who so nonchalantly undress and humiliate their sisters or even mothers in public?

Which fully grown man sexually molests a three-year-old child, their daughter, niece or any other innocent child?

Don't they have mothers, sisters or children? Aren't these men their sisters' keepers? What does that say about us as a society?

In traditional Africa a shared morality was the cement of society.

Nurturing and protecting our women and children is a fundamental tribute of who we are as a people. Our oral traditions and stories are full of heroic men who saved women and children from wars and ogres. Even the doyen of African Literature, Chinua Achebe, noted that "it is not bravery when a man fights with a woman".

It is for the cry of every woman and girl who has suffered violence for no other reason, than being a woman or girl that we as a Ministry, launched the two campaigns: the HEFORSHE campaign; and 16 Days of Activism against Gender Based Violence, as well as the National Policy on Prevention and Response to Gender Based Violence.

The Government, led by President Uhuru Kenyatta, has demonstrated commitment to address the gender inequalities that persists in our society.

I am inspired by the passion, commitment and the energy that has brought us this far. We now have various initiatives aimed at improving the well-being of women, providing social protection, health care, education and security as enshrined in the Constitution and our development blue print, Vision 2030.

The initiatives that are being implemented in government are aimed at dismantling the status quo in very fundamental ways. It is not business as usual.

Through the Second Medium-Term Plan 2013-2017, socio-economic programmes for women, youth and persons with disabilities have been realised.

The implementation of the Uwezo Fund, The Youth Enterprise Development Fund, The Women's Enterprise Fund, are all aimed at deepening financial access for those who are not covered by commercial financial services.

The biggest game changer, however, is the 30 per cent preferential procurement provisions. Through this initiative, government is putting real money and opportunities for growth in women's hands.

This indeed is a significant stride considering that women's socio-economic empowerment makes women less vulnerable to gender based violence.

As a gender ministry, we have realised gender equality cannot be achieved until we partner with our menfolk. We, therefore, mark the evolving of a new dawn, where we have changed our strategies and have opened a new platform to reach out to men and boys as advocates of gender equality, and in so doing, creating a society where women and men, boys and girls are valued and treated equally.

We are very grateful that the President has accepted to be the number one champion for the HeForShe campaign.

We look forward to having men walk with us through the campaign period and beyond, diligently taking pride in supporting women movements and advancing women empowerment.

We, the men and women, who call this beautiful land our home, have an agreement amongst ourselves, a social contract if you like. This social contract binds us as a people to 'live in peace and unity as one indivisible sovereign nation' and commits all of us to 'nurturing and protecting the well-being of the individual, the family, communities and the nation' (the preamble of the Constitution). The change and the possibilities we are looking for start with us.

As I conclude, let me draw our attention to "My dress my choice", a slogan that has captured our collective imagination, and made its way into our daily speak.

As a female minister, sometimes I find myself harshly judged, I have to dress right, speak right, socialise right and even smile right. I am not allowed to express my uniqueness and choice without attracting a myriad of comments.

For my male colleagues it is different, no one would even notice that they wore the same suit twice in a week. However, we all know it is not about the dress, or the style it's about a social construct that promotes intolerance and oppression.

Many are culprits, we do it both unconsciously and consciously; smothering the expression of self-identity and seeking to box others in what we consider "right".

Let's all endeavour to make Kenya a better place for all of us. To all the men, the challenge to you is to join in, as Champions for the HeforShe Campaign, as fathers, brothers, sons, boyfriends, husbands and colleagues; promote the rights and empowerment of women and girls.