Gender Forum

Article 27.4 of the Kenyan constitution states "The state shall not discriminate directly or indirectly against any person on any ground, including race, sex, pregnancy, marital status, health status, ethnic or social origin, colour, age, disability, religion, conscience, belief, culture, dress, language or birth." However, the state and the citizens of Kenya have engaged in the systematic discrimination, stigma and violence against LGBTIQ persons in Kenya.

Image credits Every year approximately 3 million girls undergo female genital mutilation globally according to the statistics by the World Health Organization (WHO). What this essentially means is that parents of more than three million girls allow their daughters to undergo female genital mutilation (FGM) in order to conform to social traditions. Individual families who opt not to have their daughters undergo FGM, risk stigmatization and social exclusion, particularly in communities where the practice is rampant. Globally, it is estimated that around 200 million girls and women alive today have undergone some sort of Female Genital Mutilation.

“I have the privilege of enjoying both private and public health insurance popularly known as National Insurance Health Fund (NHIF), majority here may not have similar options”, this was the moderator’s opening statement. But what does this mean for pregnant women and girls in Kenya? 

There are two stories being told about food security. One story says we are food secure and the other says we are not. The stories are being told – and written – by various people with different intentions. There are those who weave dreams, where fiction reigns and happy endings preside. Then there are those who tell it like it is.

This was the question that lingered in everybody’s mind at the recently concluded Gender Forum in Mombasa. The forum was held against the backdrop of a Mombasa court ruling that dismissed arguments that the practice of anal examination is degrading and amounts to torture and-by extension a violation of one’s rights.

During the May 2016 Gender Forum, we discussed what Feminism means for Kenyan women from different perspectives and facets, and a man asked an important question. His question was, with all this feminism and equality things, what would happen when women achieve this? Wouldn’t women seek to harm men?

On January 28th, 2016, HBS Nairobi convened a panel to discuss the relationship between civilians and the police in a discussion dubbed “Missing Voices”. The panel, comprised of L. Muthoni Wanyeki, Regional Director for Amnesty international in East Africa; Wanjeri Nderu, a social media activist and the founder of the Empowering Communities Community Organisation and Ruth Mumbi, a community organiser and activist, and moderated by Yvonne Okwarah from the Kenya Television Network (KTN), aimed to give voice to victims of police brutality and violence, but also the challenges facing the police, in order to point out some of the contextual issues that have led to an alarming rate of police brutality in the country and completely eroded the trust between individuals and police.

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were agreed upon in September 2015. The goals, 17 in total, aim to complete what the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) didn’t achieve as well as address the root causes of poverty and inequality.

Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is a vice that has affected Kenya for decades. Despite several interventions by the government and NGOs, FGM continues to persist in certain communities in the country. National statistics indicate that the FGM prevalence rate stands at 27%.

For many years in Kenya, domestic violence has been meted out on men, women and children but there was no specific legislation on such a crime. In May 2015, the Protection Against Domestic Violence Act (PADV) 2015 was accented to and its commencement date was June 2015.