#EndFemicideKE: Chants, screams as women in Nairobi protest against rising cases of femicide

Chants, wails and screams filled the air as women marched through the various streets of Nairobi on Saturday to protest against femicide.

Law Society of Kenya President Eric Theuri urged the government to support the Judiciary to expedite the hearing of gender-based violence cases.

He said that the delay in hearing cases of perpetrators of GBV was attributable to lack of enough magistrates and judges.

"As we speak right now, we have a shortage of about 100 judges and 200 magistrates and adjudicators. So that means the wheels of justice grind slowly as a result of inadequate resources to the judiciary. If supported then we can reduce the number of days it takes to hear and determine a case and that will have a deterrent effect because if someone can take a year or two before their case is heard and determined it makes them feel confident that they can get away with it," he said.

Acknowledging that there are gaps within the justice system across the board, Mr Theuri said that the weakest link is poor investigations.

"You have to understand that some of these crimes are perpetuated online and to be able to conduct the forensic investigations necessary to numb it requires specialised resources and training," he opined.

Before they set off from Jeevanjee Gardens in the Central Business District, Nairobi Women's Representative Esther Passaris took to the stage to address the women.

However, the women protested her presence, asking her "where have you been?" and urging her to "go back home".

After this, the women took to the streets, marching to some familiar protest songs. At one point, some lay down on the road, others sat down, while others used vuvuzelas to call for attention. In unison, they chanted: "Stop killing us!"

On Uhuru Highway, the women ran screaming, blocking one end of the road and obstructing the flow of traffic near Parliament.

There, Passaris got another chance to address the media, amid shouts of objection.

"Femicide is the worst form of sexual gender-based violence. We have made sure that there are laws and budgets in place but there is even a bigger problem, a societal ill that we need to address through civic education. We have seen girls being lured into thinking they have gone for a romantic evening, only to end up dead. We need to educate our women on how to better protect themselves," she said.

Nominated Senator Catherine Mumma, who also serves as the vice chairperson of the Kenya Women Parliamentary Association (Kewopa), said the women were right to be angry about the worrying trend of femicide. She said much more is needed to be done to address the problem, including President William Ruto speaking out about it.

"I would like to say that when we open parliament, the first law we should work on is how to deal with sexual violence," she said.​

"Beginning with the president speaking about this issue. I would want to say that when we open Parliament, the first law we should work on it should be how to deal with technically, facilitated sexual violence," she assured.

"We need to get universities to be more vigilant to ensure that students are not dying in their institutions. The moral issue here is the killing of a human being. Everybody has a human right including a sex worker," she added.

Amina Siyad, the Garissa Woman Representative, questioned the absence of First Lady Rachel Ruto in the protests saying she needs to fight for the lives of women.

Outside Harambee House, women sat on the road as they patiently listened to activists who had organised the march.

Njeri Migwi, the founder of Usikimye, an organisation working towards ending the prevalence of sexual and gender-based violence, led the protesters in saying the names of the slain victims.

At some point along Koinange Street business people who had been serving clients for the day, left their businesses to stare and watch as women walked past shouting, “Stop killing women!”

Back at Jevanjee, Wangu Kanja, the founder of Wangu Kanja Foundation, a non-profit organisation that focuses on addressing sexual violence with regards to prevention, protection and response, called on the government to either perform their duties or go home.

"You are there because we voted for you. Safety and security of all Kenyans, women and girls should be paramount. We are no longer negotiating. Every single day we see something going wrong, we will come back to the streets. We are putting you on notice," she said.

Nancy Baraza, the programme Assistant at Zamara Foundation, a feminist organisation working to strengthen the voices of women and girls in marginalised communities said that young women were increasingly becoming victims of femicide and the time had come for them to also speak up.

"We want all of us to go tell our families, boyfriends and husbands, that we do not want to be killed," she said.

The nationwide protests that were held in 11 counties including Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu, Nakuru, Eldoret, Homabay, Turkana, Kilifi, Machakos, Kisii and Nyeri were against the proliferation of women being murdered in the country.

In one month, 16 women had been killed with a majority of them being slain by an intimate partner.

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