Socialite Wahu yet another victim of femicide: Enough is enough
Starlet Wahu Mwangi whose body was found at an apartment in South B, Nairobi.
What you need to know:
- Femicide, the heinous act of murdering a woman simply because of her gender, extends beyond the tragic tale of Ms Wahu.
- It echoes through the stories of Ivy Wangechi, brutally hacked to death in 2019; Eunice Wangari, thrown from a 12th-floor building in Nairobi in 2020; and Olympian Agnes Tirop, allegedly stabbed to death by her husband in 2021.
- It echoes through the untold stories of girls and women whose names we may never know.
If there was ever any doubt about Kenya having a femicide problem, the brutal death of socialite Scarlet Wahu has emphatically erased it.
Femicide, the heinous act of murdering a woman simply because of her gender, extends beyond the tragic tale of Ms Wahu. It echoes through the stories of Ivy Wangechi, brutally hacked to death in 2019; Eunice Wangari, thrown from a 12th-floor building in Nairobi in 2020; and Olympian Agnes Tirop, allegedly stabbed to death by her husband in 2021. It echoes through the untold stories of girls and women whose names we may never know.
Despite strong condemnations from gender and human rights activists, patriarchy and victim shaming resurfaced in some public reactions on social media and beyond. One particularly infuriating comment on Twitter read, “So much is happening, but you don't talk about the girl who has been promiscuous. And it is the current thing that affects most of our teenage girls.”
Why must a discourse on murder devolve into judgement on a woman’s body and her choices? Let's be clear for the sake of argument: Promiscuity is not a crime. Murder is.
Inefficient justice system
Survivors know that in cases of sexual and gender-based violence in Kenya, the burden of proof lies with the victim, who’s often blamed for the crime. In Ms Wahu’s case, other victims of the alleged rapist and torturer have come forward with stories of the frustrating, painful inefficiency of the justice system.
A report by Nation.Africa published in November 2023, titled “Unsettling Reality: State of Gender Desks in Police Stations” highlighted the woeful conditions of the desks, from lack of privacy and deplorable structures to untrained staff, making it challenging for women to find relief in reporting violence as it becomes an ordeal in itself.
It shouldn't fall upon women to educate society about the perils they face. Yet, as femicide persists, we must keep shouting that it’s not about appearance, clothing, gait, speech, or emotions. It’s about power.
Violence envelops us simply because we are women. Safety eludes us everywhere: in our homes, private cars, matatus, churches, offices, and markets. Painful history has taught us that there’s a high likelihood of the alleged murderers and rapists being set loose among us, even if the cases are reported.
Besides high-profile cases, most violence against women goes uninvestigated, let alone effectively prosecuted. If justice can’t be our shield and defender, then what will? We have every right to demand and expect the existing laws to work for us to stop femicide and punish the perpetrators. Enough is enough.
The writer comments on social and gender topics. (@FaithOneya; [email protected]).
