Femicide: Why telling women to be more vigilant is not helpful

Kenyan women and human rights organizations match along the streets of Nairobi to protest against the rising femicide cases in the country on Jan 27, 2024. [Collins oduor, Standard]

In as much as 2024 will be remembered in Kenya as the year of great political upheaval and youth protest, it will also be remembered as the year of femicide. Record numbers of women continue to turn up dead, with reports indicating they have been murdered by close relatives, partners, and even complete strangers. It is the latter category of murderers, however, that has captured the minds of Kenyans, particularly in the last couple of days.

Media outlets reported that a woman, who was found dead last week, had been murdered by a man whom she had known for less than 48 hours before agreeing to meet up with him. This news item, although quickly retracted, echoed similar cases at the start of the year where women would wind up murdered in AirBnBs, and national discourse danced around whether the women were taking adequate steps before agreeing to meet up with men in secluded places.

It also echoed a conversation many years ago, when at the time popular radio presenter Shaffie Weru, while commenting about a woman who had been pushed off of a balcony by a man she had recently met, advised young women to be careful who they meet with, as well as whose money, gifts and other treats they to take. Weru’s sentiments at the time garnered heavy backlash that resulted in him losing his radio job. The message then was clear, that victim-blaming does more harm than good to the victim, and does nothing to eliminate the existence of the perpetrator.

Are we then regressing as a nation? How is it that these talking points are once again gaining traction and receiving audience, up to and including at the national level? During the inauguration ceremony of Deputy President Kithure Kindiki, President William Ruto touched on the heightened scourge of femicide, expressing distress and urging authorities to take control of the situation. In addition, he urged society ought to “be careful with strangers…who lure our girls…into situations that compromise their security.”

It is easy to hear these words and take them at face value, particularly within the larger context in which they were stated; the President urging that action be taken by the relevant authorities. However, this particular statement belies a belief that the problem of femicide is two-fold: strangers are at the forefront of harming women, and women are too easily trusting of strangers. The statement allows us to forget the fact that women are most likely to be harmed by those closest to them, usually their relatives or an intimate partners. It glosses over the fact that of the various cases of confirmed femicide reported this year alone, the perpetrators have been husbands and boyfriends to the victims.

Additionally, this attempt at showing solidarity and making a call to action hides the fact that, throughout the year, the authorities have taken little to no action on reported cases of femicide. FIDA-Kenya, in responding to the ongoing scourge, reported that so far this year it has received reports of 30 confirmed cases of femicide, none of which has resulted in the arrest of a perpetrator. The DCI in turn has reported that 97 women have been killed in the last three months. At most, living women and deceased victims are receiving platitudes at all levels, including where responsibility lies.

It is unfortunate that we have lost a Second Lady whose primary focus was on the boy-child, because perhaps she could have gone beyond addressing achievement disparities between the sexes, and finally gotten to the heart of why men and boys are so comfortable harming girls and women. It cannot be glossed over that the problem here is the men, not the women, as although women have hardly changed their behaviour, the murders this year have been steadily increasing. It is patronising to tell women who are at risk of harm to be more vigilant, when all women know is vigilance, and when the greatest threat to them exists within the walls of their own homes. It is time that the discourse hits at the heart of the matter rather than glossing over it. One more death will be one too many.

Ms Gitahi is an international lawyer