Kenya

Kenya: Religious leaders oppose anti-abortion clerics

Publication Date: 
September 17, 2011
Source: 
The Star
Rev. Timoth Njoya during the conference at KICC. (Photo: Monicah Mwangi)


Two clerics yesterday dismissed doctors and religious leaders opposed to safe abortion as enemies of women rights. The christian and muslim clerics said the abortion debate in Kenya was demeaning to women. “In this society we are all at the mercy of men,” said Rev Timothy Njoya.

He spoke at the closing day of a women health conference organised by the Kenya Medical Association.

Women's 'sex strike' a global phenomena

Publication Date: 
September 16, 2011
Source: 
ABS-CBN News
Women ended armed clashes in 2 Mindanao villages by not having sex with their husbands unless the men laid down their weapons.


MANILA, Philippines (UPDATED) - A collective launched by women in Dado, Maguindanao, to bring peace to the troubled village and nearby communities is not the first of its kind in the world.

It has its roots in Greek playwright Aristophanes'

In the play, the female characters led by Lysistrata withheld sex from their husbands as part of their strategy to secure peace and end the Peloponnesian War.

Kenya: Law passed against FGM

Publication Date: 
September 8, 2011
Source: 
The Guardian
Message to UN women: No FGM (Photograph: guardian.co.uk)


Kenya has become the latest African country to ban female genital mutilation, with the passing of a law making it illegal to practice or procure it or take somebody abroad for cutting. The law even prohibits derogatory remarks about women who have not undergone FGM. Offenders may be jailed or fined or both.

Kenya: I was told that I deserved to die – for being a female journalist

Publication Date: 
July 3, 2011
Source: 
The Guardian
Fatuma Noor


It's not always easy being a female investigative journalist, even in the west. But imagine going to do an interview and not being able to shake hands with the interviewee or indeed even being able to sit in front of him to ask questions.

In Somali culture – I grew up in a Somali family in – it is wrong to speak and raise an opinion in front of men or even to shake hands with a man of no relation to you. Even travelling for work unaccompanied by a relative is not permitted.

Somewhere on the Kenyan-Somali border, a Somali woman was chosen to be a town chief, but she fled from the town because of violent opposition from the elders. As a journalist, I tried to get comments from the Somali elders, but they then turned on me and threatened to punish me also.

Widow Cleansing: Harmful Traditional Practice

Publication Date: 
April 13, 2009
Source: 
Isiria
widow-cleansing.jpg


Violence against women still is universal, and while it has many roots, especially in cultural tradition and customs, it is gender inequality that lies at the cross-cultural heart of violent practices. Violence against women is deeply embedded in human history and its universal perpetration through social and cultural norms serves the main purpose of reinforcing male-dominated power structures.

The calls for “equal and inalienable rights” for all people, “without distinction of  any kind.”

Somalia: Mother of 4 Killed for Her Christian Faith

Publication Date: 
January 17, 2011
Source: 
Compass Direct News
Somalia


Al Shabaab militants carry out ritual slaying of Christian found to be ‘apostate.’

NAIROBI, Kenya, January 17 (CDN) — A mother of four was killed for her Christian faith on Jan. 7 on the outskirts of Mogadishu, Somalia by Islamic extremists from al Shabaab militia, a relative said.

Widow "Cleansing" Tradition - Rights Violation

Publication Date: 
April 13, 2009
clip_image001.jpg

Widow cleansing dates back centuries and is practiced for example in countries like Zambia, Kenya, Malawi, Uganda, Tanzania, Ghana, Senegal, Angola, Ivory Coast, Congo and Nigeria. It gives a nod to a man from the widow’s village or her husband’s family, usually a brother or close male relative of her late husband, to force her to have sex with him – ostensibly to allow her husband’s spirit to roam free in afterlife.

Kenya: Culture & Traditions Impact Women's & Girls' Rights

Publication Date: 
November 16, 2009
Source: 
IRIN
Photo: Irin

GARISSA - Armed with a university certificate, Hubbie Hussein Al-Haji returned to her pastoralist community in Garissa, northeastern Kenya, expecting to serve as a veterinary health assistant.

Kenyan Human Rights Commission Position on Rights related to Gendery Identity and Sexual Orientation

Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) Position on Rights related to Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation

Kenya - FGM - 350 girls to face the knife

November 25, 2009
By PHILEMON SUTER

At least 350 teenage girls are to be circumcised in the next two weeks in Marakwet East and Pokot Central districts.