Gender dialogues

MASKAN II is an immersive art installation on femicide in Kenya, produced by Usikimye and Creatives Garage and curated by multidisciplinary artist Thayù. Building on the first MASKAN exhibition of 2025, the second edition returns at a time when women continue to be killed and children continue to disappear.

Following that impactful edition, with Sauti Session on, tech-facilitated gender-based violence (TFGBV), we sat down with Wafula to discuss the inspiration behind Sauti Sessions, why this partnership was so pivotal, and what he hopes will be the lasting impact of bringing survivors, experts, and citizens together to confront one of the most pervasive forms of abuse today. This is what he had to say.

At least 220 women and girls were killed in Kenya in 2025, most by people they trusted, and often after seeking help. The Femicide Report 2025 shows that these deaths were not accidents but the result of ignored warning signs, social silence, and systemic failure. Ending femicide requires naming it, tracking it, and acting decisively to protect women before violence becomes fatal.

hbs recently partnered with Sauti Sessions and Baraza Media Lab to spotlight the growing crisis of Technologically Facilitated Gender-Based Violence (TFGBV) in Kenya. Though it happens online, its impacts are deeply offline, fueling harm, trauma, and in some cases escalating to femicide. As the world marks the 2025 16 Days of Activism under the theme “UNiTE to End Digital Violence Against All Women and Girls,” the dialogue underscored the urgent need for stronger protections and safer digital spaces for women and girls.

Grassroots advocacy is not just a strategy; it is a necessity. This time, we took the discussion to Kwale County, where cultural norms, economic hardship, and systemic gaps converge to fuel gender-based violence (GBV). For urgent action, the most effective and sustainable change must come from within the community itself.

In March, the world marked International Women's Day 2025 under the banner #AccelerateAction. Kenya is pivotal in its journey toward gender democracy, but several strides on gender justice and equality remain a mirage.  Heinrich Boell Foundation, Nairobi took stock of its work in partnership with several grassroots and national organizations to spotlight the ongoing struggle through a powerful documentary titled "Feminist Resilience: What Does it mean for Justice and Democracy?" amid global crises, shrinking civic space, and shifting funding priorities.

The consequences of patriarchy ripple  through all levels and corners of society. We are aware of the consequences and unaware of others. Patriarchy is defined as a social or political system that has chosen to identify men as superior to women. This enables an unjust system that promotes violence against the latter gender in all spaces, be it at home, the workplace, streets, online or even inside religions. Patriarchy serves men with toxic entitlement towards women. 

More often than not, sexual and gender based violence (SGBV) is perceived to only happen in homes, communities and places of work. One would never imagine that SGBV also occurs in institutions of higher learning. Where the safety of students is imagined to be a given responsibility of the institutions themselves. Universities are increasingly now becoming breeding grounds for perpetuators of SGBV, preying especially on young women. Worse still for young women seeking student leadership.