Kenya

Despite its recent history of economic stagnation and corruption Kenya remains the engine of East Africa’s growth, in addition to the region’s transport and communications centre.

The country’s well established civil society and infrastructure of roads, schools, water and sanitation provides relative stability and prosperity for its people. However, violence and discrimination against the country’s women is widespread, deeply entrenched – particularly domestic violence – and often unreported. A recent Kenyan demographic health audit found that over half the women surveyed had been subjected to some form of violence since the age of 15. 60% of the beatings were inflicted by their husbands. Assault, psychological and emotional torture by spouses, sexual assault, incest, rape and Female Genital Mutilation are common throughout Kenya, damaging women’s lives and restricting their ability to play a full and active part within their families, their communities and their country. Of the 1,895 rapes reported to the police between January and August 2004, many more go unreported and the perpetrators unpunished.

Urban and rural women and those from different ethnic groups also experience wide differences in education, economic opportunities and social and cultural traditions and practices.? While a government survey in 2003 found that 32% of the country’s women had undergone Female Genital Mutilation, the figure rises to 99% among ethnic groups in Kenya’s Northeast. The practice is beginning to decrease in urban areas – a result of increased information and awareness – while remaining significantly high amongst rural and ethnic communities with male, traditional and patriarchal social structures.

Early marriage however is all too common for the majority of Kenyan women – urban and rural. Around one-third of the country’s women marry before they are 18, restricting their educational and economic development and ability? to fully participate in decision-making.??

80% of Kenya’s women live and work in rural areas.? Mainly involved in labour intensive farming and food production, they make up 70% of the country’s agricultural work force.? Many farm at subsistence level and severe poverty is widespread.? 30% of rural women are the sole, or primary, breadwinners for their households, while thousands of the country’s women do three-days work in one.?Juggling the demands of motherhood, domestic duties, farm production and work in formal or informal employment creates the infamous ‘triple-day burden’ and denies Kenyan women a chance for education, training or even the time to seek health care.

Pokot Kiletat Women’s Group

The Group works with local communities to provide training and raise awareness of issues such as Female Genital Mutilation, HIV/AIDS, STDs, early marriage and the education of girls and young women. They also provide access to adult literacy programmes and support local women to move out of poverty through food security activities, credit, savings and income generating schemes.

Gender and Development Centre

The Centre’s key focus is to provide literacy, civic and legal rights education to women.? In addition to rights training programmes which help women develop their own leadership capabilities, they run preventive health campaigns and lobby for policies which more accurately reflect women’s needs and concerns.?? They also support women to become economically self sufficient through credit and savings schemes, food security and income generating projects.

Somalia