Human Rights Defenders have called on President William Ruto to declare femicide as a national crisis.
Through various rights organizations, they claimed that despite efforts against the vice, more cases of femicide continues to be reported in the country.
The right groups claim that the continued cases of femicide in the country highlight the widespread gender inequality, deep entrenchment of patriarchal norms, and the lack of effective action to protect women and girls.
“We, therefore, demand that femicide is declared a national emergency and urgent action is taken to prevent and punish perpetrators of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV), Violence Against Women (VAW) and femicide,” read the statement signed by over 250 organizations and 39 individuals, and read on their behalf by Maxie Daniel, a rights defender.
“In response to the declaration of VAW and femicide as a national crisis, we demand the establishment of a Commission on the Elimination of Femicide and Violence Against Women and Girls, whose Terms of Reference (ToRs) shall include the development of a National Plan of Action for the elimination of VAW and Femicide,” the statement went on.
Speaking when they commemorated one year of #EndFemicideKe campaign in Kisumu on Wednesday January 29, they also called for more inclusive discussions if Kenya has to slay the femicide dragon.
“We, therefore, demand that femicide is declared a national emergency and urgent action is taken to prevent and punish perpetrators of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV), Violence Against Women (VAW) and femicide”-maxie daniel
“We believe it is our collective, national and patriotic responsibility as Kenyan individuals, communities, and institutions to address and eradicate these deep-rooted issues,” read the statement.
The statement proceeded; “We stand united against femicide, recognising that its eradication requires a concerted effort from all sectors of society spearheaded by an anti-femicide campaign from the Government,” read a statement signed by various stakeholders in the campaign.
End Femicide Kenya
In early 2024, the right groups launched a campaign baptised which targeted advocacy against femicide in the country.
Femicide is the intentional killing of women or girls because of their gender, often as a result of deep-rooted gender-based violence and discrimination.
Jovian Lindah, Kisumu County Chapter Coordinator for End Femicide Kenya noted that for the last one year, the group has come up with a number of intervention measures aimed at responding to femicide cases right from the family level.
Some of the interventions, she said, included; setting up a toll free line for reporting Gender Based Violence (GBV) cases, focus group discussions, working with various stakeholders such as police to improve on handling GBV cases, among others.
“Awareness is something that is lacking in the community on GBV, especially on the signs and the warnings, the response mechanisms in case it happens, who is the right person for them to go to,” she said.
